


Avengers: endgame (2019)

by youwillmakeitoutofthisalive



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Fix-It, Marvel Sucks, Multi, Steve keeps his beard, i make things right, i use my power for good, no plotholes, this is canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-03-17 11:28:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18964339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youwillmakeitoutofthisalive/pseuds/youwillmakeitoutofthisalive
Summary: "I think we deserve a soft epilogue, my love. We are good people and we've suffered enough." - Nikka Ursula.





	1. 2018

**Author's Note:**

> i say fuck R*sso and M&M lives and re-write endgame, the way it was supposed to go, no plotholes and no destroying any character’s arc entirely. or at least i try to
> 
> All rights reserved to Marvel Studios.  
> I guess the only truly big changes are in chapter 5, over the end, in case you want to skip my silly little modifications, such as Bruce being treated with more respect about his choice to stay Hulkd, Thor's depression being handled more carefully and not ridiculed, or Scott Lang not being looked down-upon.
> 
> this is written in a weird, only half-narrated format, to give the impression that it is indeed the original Endgame script you are reading. remember: fanfiction is canon if you want it to be. <3 xx

[ _An arrow is being nocked into a bow. The archer behind firmly grips it tight as it was aiming towards the target. Clint Barton holds up a few arrows while mentoring her daughter, Lila Barton, on shooting one._ ]

 **CLINT:** Okay, hold on. Don't shoot. You see where you're going?

_[Clint looks down at Lila, tender eyes and the ghost of a smile threatening to come out: for all the rough around the edges he always has been, his kids are definitely a soft spot. Particularly his daughter, since they’ve been hanging out a lot lately. She’s more like him than he would ever dare to admit. Partly, that’s why he’s teaching her to defend herself: being the way he is never got him anything but trouble.]_

**LILA** : Mhm

 **CLINT:** Okay, now let's worry about how you get there. _[Clint corrects his daughter's foot to the proper position, and adjusts her shooting stance.]_

 **CLINT:** Put your foot this way. Here. Can you see?

 **LILA** : Yeah.

_[He calculates, measures, almost automatically. He considers how he would take the shot if he were the one standing before the target, and he’s pleased to see the little girl’s getting almost everything right.]_

**CLINT:** You sure?

 **LILA:** Mhm. _[Clint pushes Lila's hair in front of her face while covering her left eye, playful.]_

 **CLINT:** How about now?

[ _Both Lila and Clint giggle. Every time, it warms something up inside of him. A little of the cold agent he used to be still melts away further, every single time his kids make him smile.]_

 _[The target nailed on a tree swings in the wind. Far but near along the field, the rest of the Barton family is preparing the picnic._ ]

 **CLINT:** Alright. Ready your fingers.

 **COOPER:** Nice.

 **LAURA:** Nice throw, kiddo.

 **COOPER:** You go.

 **LAURA:** Hey, you guys want mayo or mustard, or both? _[Laura looks over at the boys, fondness at the image of her family, at peace for once. Being married to an agent of SHIELD has not been easy. She cherishes every moment.]_

_[Lila looks at Clint, a mocking smirk way too alike to Natasha’s.]_

**LILA:** Who wants mayo on a hotdog?

_[Lila reminds Clint of Natasha, more than she reminds him of himself, now that he thinks about it. He smiles at the thought. He’d like to have her here.]_

**CLINT:** Probably your brothers.

_[Clint looks at his wife. Every time, it lights something up inside of him. Passionate love bursting up at the seams, just like the first time, every single time he looks at her. He’s so incredibly thankful, in a world of mad people and crazy shit happening constantly, that he gets to have someone as awesome as her beside him.]_

**CLINT:** Uh, two mustard, please! Thanks, sweetie.

_[Laura is now facing Nathaniel, prepared to deal with her son’s usual quirky requests. He’s a wonderful, unique, yet introverted kid. Smart and quick, too. She worries some times, though, that he might be too smart to ever fit in with anyone else his age.]_

**LAURA:** Mayo or mustard?

 **NATHANIEL:** How about ketchup?

_[Her smile grows with pure love for her beautiful little boy, and she pours ketchup on his hot-dog before pouring some on hers.]_

**LAURA:** Ketchup sounds great

_[Back into the yard nearest to the house, Clint and his daughter refocus on the target]_

**CLINT:** Mind your elbow. _[Lila releases the arrow and it hits directly in the bullseye.]_

 **CLINT:** Haha! Good job, Hawkeye. Go get your arrow.

 **LAURA:** Hey guys! Enough practice, soup's on!

 **CLINT:** Alright, we're coming; we're hungry. _[Clint looks behind him, but there's no one there. No one and nothing but dust being blown away by the wind.]_

 **CLINT:** Lila, let's go. _[Clint starts to look around, beginning to worry]_

 **CLINT:** Lila? _[Clint starts to move and look around, and picks up the bow she left behind, panicking.]_

 **CLINT:** Honey? Hey, babe! Babe? Babe? Boys? Boys? Laura?

_[It’ll take Clint three entire hours to figure out what the hell has happened. Once he does, there’s nothing inside him but pure, raw, unspeakable anger.]_

***

[ **SOMEWHERE IN SPACE]**

_[Dear Mr. Fantasy playing softly through the spaceship]_

_[Nebula and Tony are still on the ship. They’re playing paper football. Tony keeps trying to make up games, make jokes, make things easier, ever since the snap. No one ever manages to keep his sarcastic remarks at bay, but Nebula’s profound wounds humble him, make him feel small, almost guilty, in such an immense way, that he could never ever dare to disrespect her grief with irony, even though that’s his coping mechanism, and he’s lost so much himself he could very well use a distraction. He settles for trying to be his friend.]_

**NEBULA:** Wrra! _[Nebula, frustrated, puts her hands in a fighting stance while looking at Tony. It amuses him, as amused as he can be in the face of the events, which is not much, but it sure is something.]_

 **TONY:** You don't need to do that. Because uh... you're just holding position. _[Nebula flicks a paper football towards Tony, and it comes nowhere near the goal.]_

 **TONY:** Oh yeah, that was close. _[Nebula once again flicks a paper football towards Tony, and he thinks, briefly, something along the lines of “I failed to save everyone else, the least I can do is make this girl’s last days alive feel a little less shitty than her messed up existence has been.”]_

 **TONY:** That's a goal. You're now one apiece.

 **NEBULA:** I would like to try again. _[Nebula flicks a paper football towards Tony]_

 **TONY:** We tied up. Feel the tension? It's fun. 

_[Tony poorly flicks a paper football towards Nebula, momentarily feeling the exhaustion wash over him. He quickly collects himself. If he allowed himself to feel every day of starvation and hardened-breathing, he’d be dead by now.]_

**TONY:** That was terrible. Now you have a chance to win. _[Nebula flicks the paper football towards Tony, focused]_

 **TONY:** And... you've won. Congratulations.  _[Tony reaches his hand out to shake Nebula's hand. He likes her a lot; he has already decided that. Under different circumstances, he’d offer her a room at the Avengers headquarters. Avengers, he thinks sombrely, as he wonders how many of them have actually survived. He shoves the thought aside, along with all the others.]_

 **TONY:** Fair game. Good sport. _[Nebula shakes Tony's hand, and the contact feels strange: in the middle of space hardly anything feels real]_

 **TONY:** Have fun?

_[He asks sincerely. He hopes she’ll say yes]_

**NEBULA:** It was fun. _[He sighs]_

_[Later that day, a worn-out Tony stares into the cold eyes of Iron Man; his busted helmet looking back blankly. He feels the sudden urge to throw it far, far away. Tony Stark's hand reaches forward to turn on the helmet. He's sitting on the floor of a gloomy Benatar. The weight of the recent events heavying evidently in Tony's posture. He taps the helmet with a sigh.]_

**TONY:** This thing on? _[The helmet scans Tony. It recognizes him. He laughs internally at the thought: ultimately, it’s him recognizing himself. Tony leans against the wall while taking deep breaths. He looks weak and malnourished.]_

 **TONY:** Hey, Miss Potts... Pep. _[He hadn’t planned on doing this, but right then and there, facing the head-shaped piece of metal that brought him into this mess in the first place, he realises he still has things to say. And of course, it’s Pepper those things have to be said to. There’s no one but her in the whole wide world.]_

 **TONY:** If you find this recording, don't post it on social media. It's gonna be a real tear-jerker. _[He tries to be funny, light-hearted for her, even now. He fails.]_

 **TONY:** I don't know if you're ever going to see these. I don't even know if you're... if you're still... _[He chokes on the thought before he can push it down his throat and swallow. He closes his eyes, chooses to stay positive: it’s the only thing he has left.]_ God, I hope so.

 **TONY:**  Today is day 21, uh 22. _[Tony looks around him and tries to count in his head how many times he has stood still at the window of she spaceship, staring out into the open space, waiting for something, anything, to come. Even damnation. But nothing ever happens up there. There’s not much else in space apart from silence, and mad titans.]_ You know, if it wasn't for the existential terror of staring into the void of space, I'd say I'm feeling better today. The infection's run its course, thanks to the blue meanie back there. _[He thinks of Nebula, sitting in the back of the Benatar, determined stare lost somewhere far beyond the piece of galaxy she’s fixated on, her harsh, unwavering expression stained by condensed fear.]_

 **TONY:** You'd love her. Very practical. Only a tiny bit sadistic. Some fuel cells were cracked during battle, but we figured out a way to reverse the ion charge to buy ourselves about 48 hours of time. _[Tony looks back on him and Nebula working on the fuel cells of the Benatar. The memory overlaps strangely with a much older one, of a cave in the middle of Afghanistan, dirt in his face and cold sweat running through his back, Ho Yinsen at his side, working as fast as he could for a plan that had felt hopeless from the start. Having something to work on is good when you think you’re about to die. You solve tiny problems, one day at a time, and you don’t think about how hard and impossible it seems to get out of there. To be honest, Tony’s real tired of walking through the edge of death. If death’s what this universe has in store for him, then it should just go ahead and get it over with already.]_

_[He feels the despair all of a sudden]_

**TONY:**  But it's now dead in the water. We're 1000 light years from the nearest 7 -11. Oxygen will run out tomorrow. And that'll be it. _[He looks down at his hands. If she were here, eyes shining brighter than the bare stars around him, he wouldn’t bear to look at her face. (He would do it anyways). God, he misses her.]_ And Pep, I ... I know I said no more surprises, but I was really hoping to pull off one last one. But it looks like... well you know what it looks like. _[Saying goodbye doesn’t feel quite right, and something inside of him is reluctant to, too. This cannot be the end.]_ Don't feel bad about this. I mean, if you grovel for a couple of weeks, and then move on with enormous guilt… I should probably lie down. _[There’s a limited amount of oxygen, and Tony already can’t breathe from the thought of Pepper’s tears. He uses every ounce of air to say this, anyways. He has to. She has to know. Not that she doesn’t know everything already, though.]_ Please know that... when I drift off, it’ll be like every night lately. I’m fine, totally fine. I’ll dream about you. Cause It's always you.

_[With that, Tony turns the helmet off. He rubs his thumb over the left eye, and then leans down. When he feels the hard floor against the cool side of his body, he thinks “So, this is the end.”. Nebula walks in and sees him. When she goes over to him, carries him to Drax's seat, and lies him there, there’s a sharp sting in her heart, like the string of a violin breaking, the last bit of hope fading away with Tony’s life. She’s alone. More alone than she’s ever been. She walks away, soul sinking to the floor and chin held high, still a perfect machine.]_

_[Tony can feel the ghost of Nebula’s arms that carried him to safety. He wants to say, “Thank you”. In his face, for the first time, age and weakness show. You can’t hide anything in death. You lose the grip, everything falls out. He can feel a light on his face, which grows brighter and brighter until he's forced to open his eyes. Looking up, he wonders if maybe he has saved enough people to be granted an entrance into Heaven. When he remembers he doesn’t believe in God, he thinks perhaps this is the Sun, warm as Pepper’s arms around him, welcoming him home, for the first time or the hundredth. Ultimately, the light source was not God, nor the Sun, nor an angel, nor the light at the end of the tunnel, but it came close enough. That is how Iron Man met Captain Marvel for the first time.]_

***

_[A bathroom in the Avengers compound. Steve Rogers looks at his own eyes and sees the aftermath of war heavying inside of them. He feels defeated, none of that I-can-do-this-all-day spirit left in him. He washes his face to keep the tears from spilling down his cheeks again. He shed a tear for Bucky, and another one for Sam, and that was it. He thinks about Tony and sighs as he looks into a side mirror, his beard even and cleaner now that he took a second to trim it a little bit. He felt ridiculous, focusing on his looks at a time like this, but Natasha had given him hell about shaving ever since they came out of hiding. He’s startled out of his thoughts when the mirror suddenly starts shaking, slowly at first, so slowly he thinks maybe it’s nothing but his own face blurring, and then severely. When he runs off for the yard, he sees Nat, Bruce and Rhodes walking out already. They’re all looking at something coming down from the sky. There’s a sense of expectation hanging in the air, and everyone’s hearts are pumping high in their chests. The Benatar enters the lower atmosphere, carried by Captain Marvel. The landing gears deploy as they touch down. The entry hatch opens. When Tony and Nebula walk out, the former being supported by the latter, Steve immediately runs to Tony to help him stand up better. Tony grips Steve's arm as he joins him. There’s a moment of brief recognition. Steve wants to say he’s glad to see him, but Tony, as always, likes to have the first word as much as the last one.]_

_[What comes out of his mouth, though, is rougher to hear than Steve expected. It hit him low in the gut.]_

**TONY:** I couldn't stop him.

 **STEVE:** Neither could I. _[It’s the truth. Nobody could.]_

 **TONY:** I lost the kid.

_[Steve thinks of saying, “Tony, we lost”, but he realises soon enough that Tony’s guilt goes way beyond the rage that comes with having lost the battle. Tony lost the kid, his kid. His loss was of a different kind: he had brought Peter in. He had mentored him. He cared for him.]_

_[Steve places a reassuring hand on Tony’s shoulder, and says nothing]_

**TONY:** Is she-- _[He speaks through a trembling, scared mouth. He’s been through hell and back, yet his greatest fear was still coming back, and finding out Pepper was gone. He doesn’t quite want to know the answer, but there it is, the only question Tony really wanted to ask anyways.]_

_[Before he can finish the sentence, she’s already in his arms. Or rather, he’s in hers’. That’s alright; Tony never minded being small in the face of such a woman. God, he missed her. God, he’s lucky, to get to see her once again.]_

_[She’s all worried hands and red puffy eyes. He hates himself for putting her through this all over again. No more surprises, he thinks. Though, as far as surprises go, finding out your MIA (Missing in Action), or rather MIS (Missing in Space) husband was actually alive, is a pretty great one. Unless, of course, your husband is Tony-pain-in-the-ass Stark, but still.]_

**TONY:** It's okay. _[He says, and he means it, as much as he possibly can. As terrible as the future appears to be -as selfish as he feels for so much as thinking about it- she survived, and that’s all that matters.]_

_[Well, not all, he reconsiders, and when he parts from the embrace of her arms, he looks around for an instant. It takes him less than that to localize his best friend. And at this point, Tony truly finds no purpose in hiding how grateful he is for being back, even with all that fury bottling up inside his stomach. The words come out as if they were spilling out of him, like a whisper]_

**TONY:** _[He smiles when he looks at Rhodes, despite it all]_ Hey

 **RHODEY:** I didn’t expect to see you here. _[Rhodey echoes Tony’s words back to him, words that where said under much different circumstances, but they hold too much weight all the same]_

 **TONY:** Well, it’s me, and I'm here, so get over it and-- _[Tony was about to spit the last word of this recycled conversation before he could choke on it, but before he could notice, Rhodes was pulling him into a hug. Surprised as he is, Tony hugs back. He’s incredibly relieved. If anyone deserves to make it out of this fight, Tony thinks, after how hard he’s fought for no other reason than justice itself, it’s James Rhodes.]_

***

_[Back in the Avengers Compound, the fallen heroes are sitting in a living room area. Tony is sitting at a table, blood filled with nutrients coming in his system through a tube to help him heal faster.]_

_[Tony looks over at Romanoff with an internal eyebrow raised. She seems—off. Not even angry. Not even soldiered-up, all tough, the way he’s used to seeing her, even, or all the more so, in hard situations such as this one. She looks entirely lost, for someone who’s never had a choice but to have her shit together.]_

**NATASHA:** It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth. World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census. And it looks like he did, well, exactly what he said he was going to do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent of all living creatures.

 **TONY** : Where is he now?

 **STEVE:** We don't know.

_[Through the glass wall, Tony can see a sullen-looking Thor, sitting on a bench, seemingly deep in thought. An actual storm appears to be unfolding deep within his eyes.]_

**TONY:** What's wrong with him?

 **ROCKET:** He's pissed. He thinks he failed. Which of course he did, but there's a lot of that goin' around here, ain't there?

 **TONY:** Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear.

 **ROCKET:** Maybe I am.

 **NATASHA:** We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep Space scans and satellites, and we got nothing.

_[If Tony weren’t already this physically and psychologically injured, his heart would break to see the look on Natasha’s face alone—pure desperation, although masked under a professional tone, when she had hardly ever shown him so much as fear in over ten years]_

**STEVE:** Tony, you fought him.

 **TONY:** Who told you that? I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the stone. That's what happened. There was no fight.

_[For Steve, it’s hard to hear it, but as the Captain, he’s gotta push and ask the hard questions. Now more than ever.]_

**STEVE:** Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?

 **TONY:** Pfft! _[He’s hurt. Most of all, he’s still sore about it.]_  I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming.

 **STEVE:** Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus.

 **TONY:** And I needed you. As in past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late buddy. Sorry. You know what I need?

_[Tony stands, pushing things off the table with a clatter. Everyone winces at the noise. Steve, on the other hand, flinches at the words, trying his best to stand his ground; to not break down]_

**TONY:** I need to shave. And I believe I remember telling _you_ , Cap.

_[Tony goes for Steve. Rhodey quickly comes in front of him, trying to stop him. His expression is worried]_

**RHODEY:** Tony, Tony

 **TONY:** Otherwise what we needed was a suit of armour around the world! Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedom or not- _that's_ what we _needed_!

 **STEVE:** Well, that didn't work out, did it?

 **TONY:** I said, "we'll lose". You said, "We'll do that together too." And guess what, cap? We lost. You weren't there. But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the Avengers. We're the _A_ vengers. Not the _Pre_ vengers, right?

 **RHODEY:** Okay, you made your point. Just sit down, ok?

 **TONY:** Nah, nah, nah. _[He pushes Rhodey away]_ Here's my point.

 **RHODEY:** Sit down, Tone

 **TONY:** _[Referring to Carol]_ She's great, by the way. We need you. You're new blood. 

 **RHODEY** : Tony!

 **TONY** : Bunch of tired old mills! I got nothing for you, cap! I got no coordinates, no clues, no plan, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust. _Liar_. 

_[Steve feels as though he’s been punched over the face. He feels cornered in an alley, and he knows he took himself there. He feels like Germany all over again. Fighting Tony never gets easier. Honestly, he’s so tired of fighting. They just gaze at each other. Stinging, cold wind blows. You could cut the thin air between them with a set of children’s scissors. After a moment, Tony rips his Arc Reactor from his chest and shoves it into Steve's hand. It’s his heart he’s giving him. It doesn’t matter, it’s broken already.]_

_[Tony falls to the ground and into a heap, unconscious. Everyone gathers quickly and drops down to his side, trying to help him. Rhodey holds a hand up at Steve and carries Tony to a bed in a random room nearby by himself. Pepper doesn’t take too long to come rushing at his side. She cries as she holds his hand, thin and alive underneath hers’]_

***

 **RHODEY:** Bruce gave him a sedative. He's gonna be out for the rest of the day.

 **CAROL** : You guys take care of him. And I'll bring Xorrian Elixir when I come back.

 **RHODEY:** Where are you going?

_[The expression in Carol’s eyes is unwavering as she speaks. It almost always is. She knows very well what she’s fighting for.]_

**CAROL:** To kill Thanos.

_[Natasha’s eyes going huge as she follows Carol down the hall. This woman impresses her, which is a hard thing for anyone to do to Natasha Romanoff, particularly these days. She’s stronger than any of the men in the room, and moves with more determination than any of the rest of them has left by now.]_

**NATASHA:** You know, we usually work as a team around here, and between you and I, we're also a little fragile. We realize this is more your territory, but this is our fight too.

 **ROCKET:** Do you even know where he is?

 **CAROL:** I know people who might.

_[When Nebula raises her voice to speak, it sounds as far away as though she were still floating around in space, forgotten]_

**NEBULA:** Don't bother. I can tell you where Thanos is. Thanos spent a long time trying to perfect me. Then when he worked, he talked about his great plan. Even disassembled, I wanted to please him. I'd ask where would we go once his plan was complete. His answer was always the same: To the Garden.

 **RHODEY:** That's cute, Thanos has a retirement plan.

 **STEVE:** So where is he then?

 **ROCKET:** When Thanos snapped his fingers, Earth became ground zero for a power surge of ridiculously cosmic proportions. No one's ever seen anything like it... Until two days ago. _[Everyone looks at a hologram of a planet, with a shockwave visibly traversing the surface.]_

 **NEBULA:** On this planet. Thanos is there.

 **NATASHA:** He used the stones again. _[She’s terrified, honestly. And more infuriated than she’s ever been. When Bruce speaks, she finds herself startled into the fact that he’s there. So much has been happening all the time, she’s never even had the chance to say hello again.]_

 **BRUCE:** Hey, Hey, we'd be going in short-handed, you know.

 **RHODEY:** Look, he's still got the stones, so

 **CAROL:** So let's get them. We'll use them to bring everyone back. _[The image of Nick, not young as he remembered him, but as he had seen him on the computer screen, all tough and director-y, flashing through her head quickly. She sucks it up. Doesn’t let it get to her. There are bigger fish to fry]_

 **RHODEY:** Just like that?

 **STEVE:** Yeah, just like that.

_[Steve and Carol share a knowing look. She figures she likes him. He had already decided he liked her, from the moment she brought Tony back safe. They are both soldiers. And soldiers will always do what they know best: they’ll fight. They’re both captains. And captains will always do the best they can to lead the way. Her flaw, though, is that she’s not a team player. Steve will lay down his life for his friends in any battlefield. We win together or we lose together. Steve had meant it. As grateful as he is that all the Avengers are alive, victory for half of them is no victory at all]_

**NATASHA:** Even if there's a small chance that we can undo this... I mean, we owe it to everyone who's not in this room to try. _[She thinks of Barton. She called him almost immediately after the snap. Well, as fast as she could. It was brief. She chokes on the memory of the sharp intake of breath against her ear, and the silent sob in his throat that followed, right before he hung up, after she explained what had happened.]_

_[She looks away]_

**BRUCE:** If we do this, how do we know it's gonna end any differently than it did before?

 **CAROL:** Because before, you didn't have me.

_[Rhodey is angry, though his anger has dimmed now that Tony came back alive. He wants to kick Thanos’ ass and get this all over with, of course, but. He saw Sam vanishing right before his eyes, his usual smirk fading into confusion, into fear. This alien shit is nothing to be playing around with. As strong as this lady thought she was, none of them seemed to stand a chance.]_

_[For all Carol was a Captain, Rhodey was an officer, and officers like plans of attack, thought through and well-armed]_

**RHODEY:** Hey, new girl, everyone here is about that superhero life. And if you don't mind me asking, where the hell have you been all this time?

 **CAROL:** There are a lot of other planets in the universe. And unfortunately, they didn't have you guys.

_[Thor stands up and walks over to Carol, tall and mighty, pure sombre eyes and hard-settled shoulders all over. He holds his hand up to call upon Stormbreaker. As it flies over to him, missing Carol’s head only by meant-inches, he measures her. Carol, smug yet kind smile on her face, doesn't even flinch as the force of the God of Thunder briefly passes through her hair.]_

_[Defeated as he is, Carol’s flaming fire ignites something in him, too. He wants to kill Thanos, indeed. He’s glad somebody finally came in here intending to make that happen.]_

**THOR:** I like this one.

_[Steve, fired up by the thrill of the imminent fight, clenches his fist at the thought of Bucky wasting away into nothingness right before his eyes. He owes this, not only to humanity, but to him.]_

**STEVE:** Let's go get this son of a bitch.

***

_[Everyone, except for Carol and Tony, is aboard the Benatar.]_

**ROCKET:** Okay, who here hasn't been to space?

_[Nat, Cap, and Rhodey raise their hands.]_

_[Rhodes, as usual, is annoyed. For someone who lives his life surrounded by them, he’s never liked magical creatures and superheroes too much. They think they’re better than everyone, only because they were born or turned into something superhuman. What a load of bullshit. He is no less than any of them.]_

**RHODEY:** Why?

 **ROCKET:** You better not throw up on my ship. Approaching jump in 3... 2... 1.

_[The ship jumps forward into a wormhole. Steve holds onto his seat for dear life. The bright color of the universe itself flashes before his eyes, and he thinks back on that time he and Bucky went to see Howard’s flying car. When he had asked where they were going, Bucky had said, “To the future”. How crazy, he allows himself to think in the middle of this crisis, to be here, in the future. And yet, it meant nothing without his friend beside him. Space itself, and all of the galaxies in it, meant nothing compared to the immensity of everything they lost.]_

_[The ship slows down, and it hovers in orbit of the planet they all had seen in the hologram previously. Captain Marvel appears in front of the Benatar. She flew all the way by herself, leading the pace, don’t need no spaceship (goes higher and faster all on her own anyways). There’s self-sufficiency on her words when she speaks.]_

**CAROL:** I'll head down for ground recon.

_[The passengers inside the Benatar are preparing for the impending confrontation.]_

_[Nat looks over at her friend. He looks small in the face of all of this. A problem too big for even Captain America to handle. She thinks, maybe, this is how he felt back in Brooklyn as a little kid, too scrawny to defend himself. Now, he feels like he’s lost against the biggest bully of them all, and what can simple, narrow-minded human as them do about it?]_

**NATASHA:** This is gonna work, Steve. _[She says, because she knows that’s what he needs to hear]_

 **STEVE:** I know it will.

_[Steve howls back, but not to her. Not to anyone in particular. He’s thinking of the battle in Wakanda, Sam on his left for a while, Bucky at his side all the time. He really thought they would win. He thought they even stood a chance]_

_[He clenches his fists]_

**STEVE:** Because I don't know what I'm going to do if it doesn't.

_[Every time he marched into battle, since 1945, he’s been marching in with the certainty that The Good Ones will always win. Which may be why, each time Good loses, it gets harder to watch]_

_[Captain Marvel approaches the Benatar.]_

**CAROL:** No satellites, no ships, no armies, no ground defenses of any kind. It's just him.

_[Nebula’s heart skips a beat at the mere mention of Him. Like a trigger. She’s afraid, bittersweet, but most of all, she wants to look at him in the eye once more time. and spit.]_

**NEBULA:** And that's enough.

_[Down in the planet, the Infinity Gauntlet fits awkwardly on Thanos' burnt arm. He's walking among crops, harvesting fruit, and putting them in a bucket. He walks over to his shed, and tries to sit down. The whole left side of his face is burnt with blisters; he looks pathetic, yet at ease.]_

_[Suddenly, Captain Marvel flies through the roof, knocking Thanos down, and grabbing his neck. Bruce, in the Hulkbuster armor, bursts from the ground, and grabs Thanos' Gauntlet arm. Thor flies in and slices off the Infinity Gauntlet. Rhodey flies down with Rocket and aims guns on Thanos' head.]_

_[Captain America walks in his stealth suit, with Natasha right behind him, staring murderously at Thanos. Rocket goes over to the sliced off Infinity Gauntlet, and kicks it over, as everyone realizes that there are no stones in it.]_

**ROCKET:** Oh no. _[There’s panic to be heard in Rocket’s voice]_

 **STEVE:** Where are they? _[Everyone holds their breath]_

 **CAROL:** Answer the question!

 **THANOS:** The universe required correction. After that, the stones served no purpose beyond temptation.

_[Bruce can’t take all the chit-chat. This is ridiculous. Is Thanos simply hanging out here, cooking lunch, after wiping half the universe away with his right hand?]_

**BRUCE:** You murdered trillions!

 **THANOS:** You should be grateful.

_[Something about the peaceful scene makes Natasha’s blood boil, and her veins burn below every inch of flesh on her body. A terrifying idea at the back of her head, the thought of the damage turning permanent being shoved aside before it can sink her down. She’s already almost crying.]_

**NATASHA:** Where are the stones?

 **THANOS:** Gone. Reduced to atoms. _[Everyone swallows the breath they’ve been holding. Their chests get collectively shut and blow into a million pieces. It’s the faint sound of hope being crushed. Once you hear this sound, the entire world turns to silence. Flatline.]_

 **BRUCE:** You used them two days ago!

 **THANOS:** I used the stones to destroy the stones. It nearly killed me. But the work is done. it always will be. I am inevitable.

 **RHODEY:** We have to tear this place apart, he-he-he has to be lying. _[He panics, wants to believe this is a lie, wants to blow Thanos’ face off.]_

 **NEBULA:** My father is many things. A liar is not one of them.

 **THANOS:**  Ah, thank you, daughter. _[Nebula flinches at the sound of the word “daughter” in the mouth of the man who ruined her life. And yet.]_

 **THANOS:**  Perhaps I treated you too harshly. _[And yet, Thanos speaks as a father indeed, wears the face of the person who raised her, and when he talks, she hears an apology. Almost. He’s admitting something, and somewhere, some traumatized fibre of her body still wants to kneel before him, wants to hear him say he’s proud, wants to save him. She wants to be small. She’s a little girl all over again, and she wants a dad more than she wants an enemy, more than she wants revenge.]_

_[Before she can say anything else, she sees Thor, his face filled with rage as he raises to summon Stormbreaker, and before anyone can stop him, slices Thanos' head off. Thanos' limp body falls to the floor and makes a deaf sound. The sound echoes in Nebula’s head, and she remembers her own body, exhausted from torture, falling down to the ground the same way, the clatter of metal reverberating through the spaceship. She’s not happy, far from it. But she’s far from mourning him as well. She lost her father to his fight a long time ago. This is the death of a Titan, and he was nothing but mad.]_

**ROCKET:** What... What did you do?

_[Thor looks broken, realizing what he has done, but there’s no regret in his face. There’s not calm, either. There’s nothing but sorrow.]_

**THOR:** I went for the head.

_[As he slowly walks out of the shed, no real purpose or direction in the steps he’s taking, the image of the life turning off in Loki’s eyes flashes through his mind. He grips the handle of Stormbreaker until his knuckles go white, but he realises he’s got nothing left to fight for, or against. They lost.]_


	2. Chapter 2

**_FIVE_** **_YEARS_** **_LATER_**

_[There is no life anywhere. Those who were left behind exist only in theory. They move around like ghosts, dead inside and always hunting, turning with suspicion around the corner, waiting for something to change, because there was no possible way that this was real. New York City is now no city at all, just a piece of darkened land. It’s fallen out of use. The biggest baseball stadium, in the middle of LA, empty, filled by dust. Even the air felt alone, circling around nobody. Only people with bad intentions wandered the streets anymore. No one wanted to see what they had become; everyone was shying away from mirrors, floating between a twisted dream and a full-on nightmare.]_

_[Somewhere in that decaying reality, an attempt at hope is being pulled from the deepest end of Steve Rogers’ heart. He spent running by the place where he met Sam one morning, and he decided he owed this to him. Maybe even to himself.]_

_[Taking his friend’s position in the VA was only figurative, but. A war too had been lost against Thanos, however small, however little chance they had stood. So, Steve figured everyone was a veteran. Everyone had a story to tell. Everybody had lost somebody. Sitting in a circle, then, Steve can fall silent and listen to other people’s tragedies instead of thinking about his own.]_

**MAN #1:** So I, uh... Went on a date the other day. First time in five years, you know? Sit there, dinner... I didn't know what to talk about.

 **STEVE:** What did you talk about? _[He smiles infinitesimally, only to himself, entirely sad around the eyes, yet there’s the tiny little smirk; a flicker of happiness for this man, a little of pride at the thought of perhaps having been able to help him somehow, and the distant memory of the last date he went on: right before the war, his best friend at his side, and two nice young ladies Steve can’t even remember the names of. Not that it mattered.]_

 **MAN #1:** Same old crap, you know? How things have changed, my job, his job... How much we miss the Mets. Then things get quiet... He cried as they were serving the salads.

_[ He, Steve thinks. Same small, meaningless smile around his mouth, absent. His eyes haven’t smiled since Wakanda, but he enjoys his mouth-smiles when he can get them.]_

**MAN #2:** How about you?

 **MAN #1:** I cried... just before dessert. But I'm seeing him tomorrow, so-

 **STEVE:** That's great. You did the hardest part. You took the jump; you didn't know where you were gonna come down. _[Someone else starts tearing up a bit, and it lands heavy on Steve’s chest; the guilt. He forces his throat to speak through it, but it comes out raw.]_ And that's it. That's those little brave baby steps you gotta take. To try and become whole again. To try and find purpose. I went in the ice in '45, lost the love of my life. Woke up 70 years later to find out everyone I knew was dead or dying. _[Miraculously, my best friend travelled through the centuries and landed in the same place I did, except I had to go through Hell to get him back fully, and right when I thought I could move on while still having that piece of my past with me, Thanos took him away. How’s that for luck? He doesn’t say any of that. He sighs it off. He wouldn’t be able to speak about Bucky without slamming his fists hard into the table at how unfair history has been to the both of them. He keeps it general.]_ You gotta move on. Gotta move on. The world is in our hands. It's left to us, and we have to do something with it. Otherwise, Thanos should have killed all of us.

_[Name stings on his throat. And as much as he means every word of it, he has no clue how to take back his life and make something out of it. He was lost five years ago; he is lost now.]_

 

[ **SAN FRANSCISCO]**

_[After five years of confusion and being bored, Luis got a call on a Sunday. It was strange to receive phone calls, given the current static situation of the world. There was a group of people getting rid of useless waste in a self-storage; they had found a van under his name. He took his time to go get it. He was surprised, yes, when he got the call. But you can bet he was a thousand times more surprised when he tripped over a piece of metal on the floor, accidentally pushing a button that sent Scott freaking Lang flying straight into his face, right off of the door of his old van. He had been wondering where the van was. He thought wondering about Scott’s location was pointless. Everyone seemed to have accepted everyone else was simply gone.]_

**SCOTT:** _[Grunts as he pushes away a cushion out of his body, and deactivates the helmet as he sweeps away sparks from an electrical failure out of his suit.]_ What the hell? _[When he tries to stand up, Luis’ not so firm grip helps him stand back up.]_

 **LUIS:** _[Who agrees, whole heartedly]_ What the hell yourself? _[For once in his entire life, he sincerely has no words. He hugs Scott before he can even think about it, eyes wide open in a weirded-out sense. Scott’s expression is the same. Two very confused men stan there for a second, very stiff.]_

_[As Scott and Luis are driving away from the facility, eyes still open as fried eggs, a security guard they could swear they had met before looks at them in bewilderment from the middle of the street.]_

_[Luis didn’t really have much information. He got most of it from the news. A lot of people disappearing at once, or something. His story didn’t get all mixed up and long this time, the way his stories used to, when he tried to tell it to Scott. Something about him seemed off. It freaked ant-man out a little. He didn’t understand much. The first thing Scott asked him was to drive him over to his house. He needed to know if she was alright. On the way, looking through the streets, the MISSING sings were everywhere. Autumn leaves stained the road, but this lonesomeness was long from being poetic. Scary, if anything. Like this, San Francisco looked like a good scenario for a horror movie.]_

_[As he gets down on the van, standing still for a second to look around his ex-wife’s street, fear curls up on his chest. It had been threatening to hurt him since he came out of the Quantum Realm and didn’t find Hope there. He takes a few steps towards the house as a kid passes by on a bike. He smiles at him, but when the kid looks back, the darkness in his eyes threatens to spit at him. The child’s stare holds withered and faded, appearing older than any kid should ever have to be, then he drives away.]_

_[After that, Scott walk-runs towards the front door. Heart on his chest, beginning to sink right to the bottom of the earth. He rings the doorbell. Bangs on the door. Claps his hands. Finally, he sees a feminine figure appear out of a hallway inside. The figure gets closer, revealing a woman in a purple sweater, with her hand pushing towards the glass door's window. Her face is filled with amazement, a tear behind her eyes, as she unlocks the door. There she was, Lang's daughter, Cassie, now a grown-up teen.]_

_[Cassie, who hasn't seen him for five years, holds up his face in an emotional sight and starts to smile tearfully. Lang does the same.]_

**SCOTT:** Cassie? _[He doesn’t know if he’s happy, or sad. None of this makes any sense. As the kid back in the street, she looks tired, more worry around the eyes than a teen is supposed to withstand.]_

 **CASSIE:** Dad? _[They hug each other, father and daughter, and Scott decides, whatever is happening, he’s very glad his kid is alright. He sighs on her shoulder.]_

 **SCOTT:** You're so big!

_[Both dad and daughter share a hug once more. Yeah, thank God.]_

_[Eventually, Scott goes back out to get Luis. Cassie makes tea for the both of them, and she tells them what she knows. It’s not much either. A lot of people disappearing at once. A bad guy. Lang feels pain at the sight of his daughter, right there before him, sounding much more like an adult than the little girl he still saw her as.]_

**[AVENGERS FACILITY]**

_[Natasha stands in the too-big kitchen and looks down at her sandwich in pity. She decided a while ago to let her natural her grow, and it has. Well, if she’s being honest, she just decided she wouldn’t bother dyeing it blonde again anytime soon. Too much work, and what for? She wasn’t on the run anymore. She was just standing around. Standing still. Too still, actually.]_

_[She lays her lame plate down on the table with her meal before her. She wonders, distantly, when’s the last time she’s really cooked for herself. When’s the last time she’s enjoyed the taste of food or has been properly nourished.]_

_[She looks away and tries to listen to Rocket Raccoon out about his status so far. Rocket, the raccoon. What has her life come to? If Clint was here, he’d laugh at the talking furry. Except Clint doesn’t laugh all that much these days. No one does.]_

**ROCKET:** Yeah, we boarded that highly suspect warship that Danvers pinged.

_[Nat looks from one end of the holographic calls to the other, from the left to the right: Nebula and Raccoon, Okoye, Carol (who looked considerably hot with her new short haircut, so much so that, when the call started, Nat was forced to rise her eyebrows in a pointless stunned motion, expressing a genuine reaction at something for the first time in months) and lastly Rhodes.]_

**NEBULA:** It was an infectious garbage scowl.

 **ROCKET:** So, thanks for the hot tip. _[Rocket turns to Danvers and replies back with a smirk]_

 **CAROL:** Well, you were closer.

 **ROCKET:** Yeah. And we smell like garbage.

 **NATASHA:** _[turns to look at Okoye. Talk about considerably hot haircuts]_ You get a reading on those tremors?

 **OKOYE:** It was a mild subduction under the African plate.

 **NATASHA:** Do we have a visual? How are we handling it?

 **OKOYE:** Nat, it's an earthquake under the ocean. We handle it by not handling it.

 **NATASHA:** _[She flinched internally at Okoye’s tone, could hear the message through her words, but she didn’t react on that either. Instead, she turns to Danvers]_ Carol, are we seeing you here next month?

_[Natasha was really looking forward to getting a visit from Carol. Not that she’s ever state it out loud, but everyone knew how alone she felt. Plus, space-girl is cool]_

**CAROL:** Not likely. _[Carol would like to go down to earth for a while, too. (She thinks the little spider is cute, and she has a soft spot for strong women struggling—not that she’d ever admit that any of her spots are somewhat soft. She wants to help her out, somehow) But she has other business.]_

 **ROCKET:** What, you gonna get another haircut?

 **CAROL:** _[irritated]_ Listen fur-face, I'm covering a lot of territory. The things that are happening on Earth, are happening everywhere, on thousands of planets.

 **ROCKET:** _[murmurs to himself]_ That's a good point. That's a good point.

 **CAROL:** So you might not see me for a long time.

_[Nat feels a little sting at that—yet another person who’s leaving her alone. But she understands]_

**NATASHA:** Alright. Uh, well. This channel is always active. So, anything goes sideways, anyone's making trouble where they shouldn't… comes through me.

 **OKOYE:** Okay.

 **NATASHA:** Alright. _[One by one, the Avengers cut off their calls. Avengers, Nat calls them in her head. Is that what they are? Like this, right now? Can they call themselves heroes?]_

 **CAROL:** _[Turning to Rhodey]_ Good luck. _[Cuts off call]_

_[Nat sighs exhausted, and sits down to eat, or just stare at her sandwich for a while, then she notices Rhodes still online in the call.]_

**NATASHA:** Where are you?

 **RHODEY:** New Mexico. The federales found a room filled with bodies. Looks like a bunch of cartel guys. Never even had the chance to get their guns off.

 **NATASHA:** It's probably a rival gang. _[Nat looks away, pretends she’s not interested, pretends she’s not hurt, pretends she doesn’t know where this conversation is going. Pretends she doesn’t know who’s been taking down “bad guys” all over the place. There’s not much use pretending, though, with your eyes all tired and watered like this.]_

 **RHODEY:** Except it isn't.

 **RHODEY:** It's definitely Barton. What he's done here, what he's been doing for the last few years— I mean, the scene that he left… I gotta tell you, there's a part of me that doesn't even want to find him.

_[In an abrupt moment of silence, she grabs at the piece of buttered bread and tries to chew off her tears, swallow through the lump in her throat, but it is much bigger than any food can cover]_

**NATASHA:** Will you find out where he's going next?

 **RHODEY:** Nat...

 **NATASHA:** Please.

 **RHODEY:** _[reluctantly, worry edging on his features. There’s not much else he can do, but he wants to do something anyways. He wishes he could put a hand on her shoulder through the distance]_ Okay. _[That’s all he says. Then Rhodes cuts off his call]_

_[Nat still tries to hold her tears, even with no one left in the room.]_

_[Out of nowhere, Roger slumps over a bookshelf in the left corner of the room, carrying the dreadful mood of the VA. Nat wipes a tear off.]_

**STEVE:** You know I'd offer to cook you dinner but you seem pretty miserable already.

 **NATASHA:** You here to do your laundry?

 **ROGERS:** And to see a friend.

 **NATASHA:** _[She’s not offended anymore when she sees them worrying for her, she knows how shit she’s been doing]_ Clearly, your friend is fine.

 **STEVE:** I saw a pod of whales when I was coming up the bridge.

 **NATASHA:** In the Hudson?

 **STEVE:** There's fewer ships, cleaner water.

 **NATASHA:** You know, if you're about to tell me to look on the bright side. Um... I'm about you to hit you in the head with a peanut butter sandwich. _[She attempts at a joking smile; Rogers does the same. Neither of them thinks about the bitterness behind their teeth]_

 **STEVE:** Sorry. Force of habit. _[It is. He’s been keeping up the optimism ever since he was taught nothing good would ever happen to him. He walks over to the table and throws his jacket on a chair, then sits down on another one.]_

 **STEVE:** You know, I keep telling everyone they should move on and... grow. Some do. But not us.

 **NATASHA:** If I move on, who does this?

 **STEVE:** Maybe it doesn't need to be done.

 **NATASHA:** _[Deep in her thoughts, images of a past life, cold hard ground under her feet and no one beside her. No one to worry for her the way Steve and Rhodey alone had shown to worry just now]_ I used to have nothing. Then I got this. This job... this family. And I was better because of it. And even though _[She breathes in, holds it. Holds the shaky breath in and keeps it there, locked.]_ they're gone, I'm still trying to be better.

 **STEVE:** We both need to get a life.

 **NATASHA:** _[Smiling]_ You first.

_[A camera footage pops up in front of them, showing Scott Lang with his Quantum Realm Van behind him.]_

**SCOTT:** Uh... Hi. Hi! Is anyone home? This is Scott Lang. We met a few years ago, at the airport? In Germany? I got really big, and I had my mask on. You wouldn't recognize me.

 **STEVE:** _[Standing up]_ Is this an old message?

 **SCOTT:** Ant-man? Ant-man, I know you know that. I need to talk to you guys.

 **NATASHA:** _[Also standing up, a spark in her eyes, almost like hope, glinting distantly]_ It's the front gate.

_[Once Scott’s inside the Avengers Compound, he can’t stop pacing worriedly in front of Steve and Natasha and muttering to himself. He doesn’t know where to begin.]_

**STEVE:** Are you okay?

 **SCOTT:** Yeah. I'm fine.

_[He struggles to ask about something. He finally blurts it out.]_

**SCOTT:** Have either of you ever studied Quantum Physics?

 **NATASHA:** Only to make conversation.

 **SCOTT:** Alright. So. Five years ago, right before Thanos, I was in a place called the Quantum Realm. The Quantum Realm is like its own microscopic universe. To get in there, you have to be incredibly small. Hope, she's my— She was my— _[He struggles to tell the entire truth about their relationship. It’s a long story, not a one-word story. Not a story as short as “girlfriend”. Not that it matters, now that she’s gone. He decides then that it doesn’t matter. Not as much as getting her back, whatever they are]_ She was supposed to pull me out. And then _[He waves a hand, meaning: whoever that guy is]_ Thanos happened, and I got stuck in there.

 **NATASHA:** I'm sorry. That must've been a very long five years.

 **SCOTT:** Yeah, but that's just it. For me, it was five hours.

_[Steve and Nat share a quick glance.]_

**SCOTT:** See, the rules of the Quantum Realm aren't like they are up here. Everything is unpredictable. Is that anybody's sandwich? I'm starving.

_[He strides over to pick up Nat's sandwich, and bites into it. Quantum or not, the guy hasn’t eaten in a while]_

**STEVE:** Scott, what are you talking about?

 **SCOTT:** What I'm saying is, time works differently in the Quantum Realm. The only problem is right now, we don't have a way to navigate it. But what if we did? I can't stop thinking about it. What if, we could somehow control the chaos, and we could navigate it? What if there was a way to enter the Quantum Realm at a certain point in time but then exit at another point in time? Like... Like before Thanos.

 **STEVE:** Wait, are you talking about a time machine?

 **SCOTT:** No. No, of course not. No, not a time machine. It's more like a…Yeah, like a time machine. I know it's crazy. But I can't stop thinking about it. There's gotta be some way… _[His voice drops lower when he realizes what he sounds like; lost and desperate. Which, to be fair, he is as the survivors were when they first lost everyone.]_ No, it's crazy.

 **NATASHA:** I get e-mails from a raccoon, so nothing sounds crazy anymore.

 **STEVE:** So, who do we talk to about this?

_[At that moment, nobody answered, but Natasha looked over at Steve and she could see it in his eyes: they were thinking the same thing. There was only one person they could go to, and consider their last conversation, it only made sense for the captain to be a little reluctant about visiting his old friend only to ask for something like this]_

**[THE CABIN]**

_[Life is simple in the middle of the woods. At the bank of the lake before his beautiful little cabin, Tony Stark sits outside what looks like a tiny shed.]_

**TONY:** Chow time! _[He speaks through the curtains of the fort.]_

 **TONY:** Morgoona? Morgan H. Stark.

_[A girl with long dark hair walks out in front of Tony. This is Morgan Stark, Tony and Pepper's daughter. She’s about 4 years old.]_

**TONY:** Want some lunch?

 **MORGAN:** Define lunch or be disintegrated. _[She’s wearing a silver and blue helmet similar to Iron Man's, and she holds up a hand as though ready to fire]_

 **TONY:** You should not be wearing that, okay? That is part of a special anniversary gift I'm making for Mom. _[He takes the helmet off Morgan's head carefully, lovingly. She emerges out smiling mischievously.]_

 **MORGAN:** Okay.

 **TONY:** There you go. Are you thinking about lunch? Want a handful of crickets?

 **MORGAN:** No.

 **TONY:** That's what you want. How did you find this?

 **MORGAN:** Garage.

 **TONY:** Really? Were you looking for it?

 **MORGAN:** No. I found it though.

 **TONY:** You like going to the garage, huh? So does daddy. It's fine, actually. Your mom never wears anything I buy her. _[He could sound offended, if it weren’t for the fact that he could never, ever, in a thousand years, blame Pepper for wanting nothing to do with Iron Man related items again. He does miss it, of course. But what could he possibly find on the battlefield that was better than this? He thinks, looking at the little trouble-girl]_

_[They start walking towards the house, but Tony notices a black Audi pulling over a few meters away. Steve, Nat, and Scott get out of the car. Tony sighs. He doesn’t know what they want, but it can’t be anything good. He is not looking forward to the discussion about to take place. They’re not the type of friends who just pops up to see how you’ve been, he knows that much]_

**SCOTT:** _[After the poorly thought-through plan has been explained to Tony, he looks at the little big man with hesitance]_ Now, we know what it sounds like—

 **STEVE:** Tony, after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible?

 **TONY:** Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale, which then triggers the Deutsch proposition. Can we agree on that?

_[Scott, Steve and Nat all look puzzled. Science is barely any of their fields. So, no. They can’t really agree on that, but they’re pretty sure Tony must be right]_

**TONY:** Thank-you. In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home.

 **SCOTT:** I did.

 **TONY:** No, you accidentally survived. It's a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull off a... What do you call it?

 **SCOTT:** _[Smiles, pride and embarrassment all in one]_ A time heist?

 **TONY:** Yeah, a time heist. Of course, why didn't we think of this before? Oh, because it's laughable? Because it's a pipedream?

 **SCOTT:** The stones are in the past. We can go back and get them. _[Simple as that— we save the day. That’s the superhero gig.]_

 **NATASHA:** We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everyone back.

 **TONY:** Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?

 **STEVE:** I don't believe we would.

 **TONY:** Gotta say, sometimes I miss that giddy optimism. However, high hopes won't help if there's no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said “time heist”. I believe the most likely outcome would be our collective demise.

 **SCOTT:** Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel. That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events—

 **TONY:** I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott. Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back To The Future?

 **SCOTT:**   _[he finds he feels small in the face of all these heroes, but he’s not much liking being looked down upon. His theory, his plan, is based in the physics Hank and Hope have taught him]_ No.

 **TONY:** Good. You had me worried there. 'Cause that'd be horse shit. That's not how quantum physics works.

 **NATASHA:** Tony, we have to take a stand.

 **TONY:** We did stand. And yet, here we are.

_[He doesn’t say: defeated]_

**SCOTT:** I know you got a lot on the line. You got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did. And now, now we have a chance to bring her back. Bring everyone back. And you're telling me that won't even—

 **TONY:** That's right, Scott, I won't even.  

_[Morgan comes out of the house running to her dad, who picks her up.]_

**MORGAN:** Mommy told me to come and save you.

 **TONY:** Good job. I'm saved. _[He tucks her in, the turns to face Cap, Nat and Scott.]_ I wish you'd come here to ask me something else. Anything else. Honestly, I missed you guys. _[He means it. Ever since the New York battle he’s been trying to make a family out of the Avengers. He wanted them to be friends, even more than heroes. So much for friends, have barely talked to each other in five years.]_ Oh, and table's set for six.

 **STEVE:** Tony, I get it. And I'm happy for you, I really am. But this is a second chance.

 **TONY:** I got my second chance right here, Cap. I can't roll the dice again. If you don't talk about work, you can stay for lunch.

_[Ultimately, they do stay. For an hour or two, they pretend everything is normal. Steve holds back every comment he would have liked to make about the world and current events. They help from speaking about the dead over dessert. Instead, Tony tells them about their new life. When Natasha excuses herself for a second, watery-eyed, nobody mentions it. Pepper is the only one who seems comfortable enough to be honest; she talks about how hard it’s been, and everybody listens in awe. Scott makes silly jokes and Morgan laughs. Really laughs. It fills everyone’s hearts. Cranky and rusty at relationships as they all might be, they love each other. We are more than friends; Tony thinks to himself. We’re family.]_

_[Later, when Cap, Nat and Scott are getting back into their car outside Tony's house, they allow themselves the sigh they all have been holding.]_

**NATASHA:** He's scared.

 **STEVE:** He's not wrong.

 **SCOTT:** Yeah, but I mean, what are we gonna do? We need him.

 **STEVE:** I wanna do it right. We're gonna need a really big brain.

 **SCOTT:** _[Incredulous, pointing to Tony's house]_ Bigger than his?

 

**[AT A CAFE SOMEWHERE]**

_[We see Bruce Banner, but not the same one that we remember. He looks more... green.]_

**BRUCE:** Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating. _[Pushing a plate forward]_ Try some of that. Have some eggs.

 **SCOTT:** I'm so confused.

 **BRUCE:** _[seriously]_ These are confusing times.

 **SCOTT:** Right. No, no, that's not what I meant.

 **BRUCE:** _[dropping the act]_ No, I get it. I'm kidding! I know. It's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now.

 **SCOTT:** Yeah! How? Why?

 **BRUCE:** Five years ago, we got our asses beat. Except it was worse for me. Because I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost. Then, we all lost.

 **NATASHA:** No one blamed you, Bruce.

 **BRUCE:** I did. For years, I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in a gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me. Best of both worlds.

 **NATASHA:** _[Smiling, understanding and knowing him. Maybe, even admiring him. All the water running through their bridge is nothing but a gentle memory to her. She truly loves him]_ I’m so happy for you. I’m glad you finally figured it out, big guy.

_[Bruce smiles back, understanding and knowing her. They both feel the soft veil of friendship fall over them]_

**SCOTT:** Hey, so about we were saying...

 **BRUCE:** Right. The whole time travel do-over? Guys, it's outside my area of expertise.

 **NATASHA:** Well, you pulled this off. I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible time, too.

_Bruce seems to consider it for a second. In Natasha’s eyes, he finds trust. And so, he decides to trust himself, something he is entirely new on._

**[TONY STARK’S KITCHEN]**

_[Today is Tony’s turn to wash the dishes after dinner. As he finishes the last of them, he stumbles upon a photo of him and Peter, with Parker holding his Stark Internship certificate. It’s hard to look at his face, but for the first time since the snap, he doesn’t see the fear he saw the last time, back in space, and he doesn’t see the disappointment he imagines Peter would look at him with if he ever saw him again. Instead, Tony sees encouragement. It’s the same look he himself used to give the kid. He finally knows what he's fighting for.]_

_[Tony goes over to his studio to run over some ideas. He’s talking to his computer, generating a holographic model of something he's working on.]_

**TONY:** Look at a mod inspiration, let me see what check out. So, recommend one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time, in the shape of a mobius strip, inverted, please.

 **FRIDAY:** Processing...

 **TONY:** Give me that eigenvalue. That, particle factoring, and a spectral decomp. Gotta take a second.

 **FRIDAY:** Just a moment.

 **TONY:** And don't worry if it doesn't pan out. I'm just kinda… trying it out

 **FRIDAY:** Model rendered.

_[In a complete shock of amazement, the render comes back as successful. Tony falls back, bewildered by this discovery. A mixture of terror, pride, annoyance and adrenaline starts to burn up in his chest.]_

**TONY:** Shit!

 **MORGAN:** Shit!

_[Morgan, who has been hiding behind him all this time, giggles as she repeats the word Tony just uttered.]_

**TONY:** What are you doing up, little miss?

 **MORGAN:** Shit!

 **TONY:** No, we don't say that. Only Mommy says that word. She coined it, it belongs to her.

 **MORGAN:** Why you up?

 **TONY:** 'Cause I got some important shit going on here. What do you think? I got something on my mind. I got something on my mind.

 **MORGAN:** Was it Juice Pops?

 **TONY:** Sure was. That's extortion. Great minds think alike. Juice Pops, exactly was on... my mind.

[In Morgan's room]

 **TONY:** You done? Yeah, now you are. _[Pushing Morgan's head onto her pillow. She is so beautiful]_ That face goes there.

 **MORGAN:** Tell me a story.

 **TONY:** A story. Once upon a time, a girl went to bed. The end.

 **MORGAN:** _[Giggling]_ That ain't the whole story.

 **TONY:** Come on, that's your favourite story. I love you tons.

_[They’re right when they tell you everything changes when you have a kid. The moment you first see them is the moment you decide your life, from now on, will be a constant pursuit of their wellbeing. He couldn’t possibly adore this little creature any more than he does.]_

**MORGAN:** I love you 3000.

_[Well, he was wrong. Tony loves Morgan more with each breath she takes, with each passing day. He would rather let the entire world perish than risk losing her]_

**TONY:** Wow. 3000. That's crazy. Go to bed. Or I'll sell all your toys. Night, night.

_[In the living room, Pepper is reading a book sitting on the couch. Tony paces in front of the fireplace.]_

**TONY:** Not that it's a competition or anything, but she loves me 3000. You were somewhere on the low 6 to 900 scale. _[Pepper scoffs]_

 **TONY:** _[Absentmindedly]_ What are you reading?

 **PEPPER:** Oh, it's just a book on composting.

 **TONY:** _[Still absentmindedly]_ What's new with composting?

 **PEPPER:** Just -

 **TONY:** I figured it out, by the way. _[His eyes are huge, scared, blood rushing to his head]_

 **PEPPER:** You know, just so we're talking about the same thing -

 **TONY:** Time travel.

 **PEPPER:** What? Wow... That's amazing, and... terrifying.

_[He smiles, allows himself to look at her. Really look at her. Pepper, who always says the right thing. Pepper, who knows it all. Who loves him just as much as he loves her. Who has given up so much for him.]_

**TONY:** That's right.

_[Before she begins talking, he already knows what she’s going to say. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear.]_

**PEPPER:** We got really lucky.

 **TONY:** Yeah, I know.

 **PEPPER:** A lot of people didn't.

 **TONY:** No, I can't help everybody.

 **PEPPER:** It sorta seems like you can.

_[She’s right, as always. He knows that.]_

**TONY:** Not if I stop. I can put a pin in it right now, and stop.

 **PEPPER:** Tony, trying to get you to stop has been one of the few failures of my life.

_[Tony’s lips curl up on their own. How did he get so lucky?]_

**TONY:** I have the feeling I should put it in a locked box, drop it at the bottom of the lake and go to bed.

 **PEPPER:** But would you be able to rest?

_[Pepper’s eyes are watery. She is aware that she may be pushing the man she loves through a path he may not come back from. But it is because she loves him, and knows him, that she has to do so. She married a hero. That much, she knows. No matter how many times he swears his heart is made out of iron, she knows he has a heart of gold.]_

**[AT A LAB IN THE AVENGERS COMPOUND]**

_[Bruce is fiddling with buttons on a panel. Scott is in his Ant-Man costume, in front of his van, with the back open to show the Quantum Tunnel. Nat and Steve are beside Bruce.]_

**BRUCE:** Okay, here we go. Time travel test number one. Scott, fire up the uhhh... the van thing.

 **STEVE:** Breakers are set, emergency generators are on standby.

 **BRUCE:** Good. 'Cause if we blow the grid, I don't wanna lose tiny here in the 1950s. _[Scott, Nat and Cap give Bruce a panicked look]_

 **SCOTT:** Excuse me?

 **NATASHA:** He's kidding. _[In a hushed tone to Bruce]_ You can't say things like that!

 **BRUCE:** Just... It was a bad joke.

 **NATASHA:** You were kidding, right?

 **BRUCE:** I have no idea. We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is. _[presses a few buttons]_ We're good! Get your helmet on, Scott. I'm gonna send you back a week, let you walk around for an hour, then bring you back in 10 seconds. Makes sense?

 **SCOTT:** Perfectly not confusing

 **STEVE:** Good luck, Scott. You got this.

 **SCOTT:** You're right. I do, Captain America.

 **BRUCE:** On the count of three. 3... 2... 1!

_[Bruce presses a button, and Scott disappears into the Quantum Tunnel. In 5 seconds, Bruce presses a button, and someone in the Ant-man suit comes back. A teenager in appearance.]_

**TEEN SCOTT:**  Uh, guys? This...this doesn't feel right.

 **STEVE:**  What is this? 

 **BRUCE:** What's going on? 

 **NATASHA:** That...who is that?

_[He pushes another couple of buttons, trying to fix the problem.]_

**BRUCE:**  Hold on. 

 **NATASHA:** Is that Scott?

 **TEEN SCOTT:** Yes, it's Scott!

_[Teen Scott gets sucked in back into the quantum tunnel, and when he comes back, he appears to be an old man in the Ant-Man suit.]_

**OLD SCOTT:** Ow! My back!

 **STEVE:**  What is this?

 **BRUCE:** Can I get a little space here.

 **STEVE:** Can you bring him back?

 **BRUCE:** I'm working on it!

_[After a moment, another person appears in front of them. This time, it's a baby in the Ant-Man suit.]_

**STEVE:** It's a baby.

 **BRUCE:** It's Scott.

 **STEVE:** As a baby!

 **BRUCE:** He'll grow!

 **STEVE:** Bring Scott back.

 **BRUCE:** _[motioning to Nat]_ When I say kill the power, kill the power.

 **NATASHA:** Oh my god.

 **BRUCE:** And... Kill it!

_[Nat pulls down a lever, and everything shuts down. Scott, the normal Scott, gets spewed back out again.]_

**SCOTT:** Somebody peed my pants. But I don't know if it was "baby" me or "old" me.

 **SCOTT:**  ...Or just "me" me.

_[Bruce holds up his hands in a dramatic way.]_

**BRUCE:** Time travel!

 **STEVE:** What?

 **BRUCE:** I see this as an absolute win!

_[Steve, stressed, goes outside the Avengers Compound for a bit of fresh air. He’s staring at the floor, deep in thought. He looks beat, the only possibility of victory now not really much of a possibility at all. He looks up as a deafening noise breaks the silence in the distance. As he looks, we see an Audi R8 speeding towards the entrance. The car pulls over to Cap, but goes a bit too far, then reverses to Cap. We see Tony Stark, queen of drama and theatrical entrances, roll down the window and look at Cap]_

**TONY:** Why the long face? Let me guess: He turned him into a baby.

 **STEVE:** Among other things, yeah. What are you doing here?

_[He gets out of the car, and walks around to the back.]_

**TONY:** _[Ignoring Steve's question]_ That's the EPR paradox. Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky. Dangerous. Somebody shoulda cautioned you against it.

 **STEVE:** You did.

 **TONY:** _[Opening his car's trunk]_ Oh, did I? Thank god I'm here. Regardless, I fixed it. _[He holds up his right hand, with a device on it]_ A fully functioning Time-Space GPS. I just want peace. _[Makes peace sign with his fingers]_  Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it.

 **STEVE:** Me too. I’m really sorry, you know. _[Steve looks down, ashamed on some level of his childish behaviour. Then up, into Tony’s eyes, serious]_ About everything. I shoulda been there for you. We should have set our differences aside for the greater good, as we always do. But, you know, when Buck--

 **TONY:** Hey, I get it, he’s your blindspot. I got a few of my own. _[He looks away]_ But that’s all behind us now. Enough mending. We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities: Bring back everyone? I hope, yes. Keep what I got? Have to, at all costs. And maybe not die trying, would be nice.

 **STEVE:** Sounds like a deal. _[Steve reaches out his hand to shake in the deal, and Tony offers his’. They look at each other, then, fully, honestly, for the first time in years. And when they let go of each other’s hands, they know they still got each other’s backs on a firm grip.]_

_[Tony reaches back into his trunk to pull something else out. Something red, white and blue. Captain America's Shield. He makes to give it to Steve, who hesitates.]_

**STEVE:** Tony, I don't know...

 **TONY:** Why? He made it for you. Plus, honestly, I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding.

_[Steve fits his arm into the shield. It fits him like a glove, as it always had.]_

**STEVE:** Thank you, Tony. For everything.

 **TONY:** Yeah, yeah, _[He’s smiling]_ but will you keep that a little quiet? Didn't bring one for the whole team. _[Hesitates, challenging]_ ...We are getting the whole team, right?

 **STEVE:** We're working on that right now.

_[At the Benatar landing in the yard of the Avenger's Compound, Scott is sitting peacefully, having a Taco at a bench, and everything falls out of it as the Benatar lands. Nebula and Rocket walk out of the ship, and past Scott.]_

**ROCKET:** Hey, homie! Where's Big Green?

 **SCOTT:** Uh, Kitchen, I think. _[He answers weirded out, and a little confused. Muttering to himself as he sees Nebula]_ That's awesome.

 **NEBULA:** _[into an earpiece]_ Rhodey, careful on re-entry. There's a nice little guy on the landing zone. :)

_[She walks inside. Moments later, just as Scott is getting back to his senses, Rhodey lands right in front of him without warning. This time Scott is so surprised, he drops the whole taco.]_

**SCOTT:** Oh, God!

 **RHODEY:** What's up, regular sized man?

_[As Rhodey walks away, Bruce walks out of the Compound. Seeing that Scott dropped his lunch, he hands two tacos from his own lunch out to Scott. Scott takes them while giving Bruce a puzzled, surprised, thankful look at this act of kindness.]_

_[Later that day, Bruce and Rocket are sitting at the back of a Utility car as they traverse the green countryside of Norway. They pass a sign labelled " **NEW ASGARD".** They stop at a small town on a port. Bruce and Rocket get out of the car, and look around at the remaining Asgardians, living like normal humans at a port.]_

**ROCKET:** Kind of a step down from a from a golden palace for an Avenger highness and whatnot.

 **BRUCE:** Have a little compassion, pal. First, they've lost Asgard, then half the people. They're probably just happy to have a home. _[Bruce spots Valkyrie looking over at him, and heads over to her.]_

 **VALKYRIE:** You shouldn't have come!

 **BRUCE:** Valkyrie! Great to see you, Angry Girl!

 **VALKYRIE:** _[Noticing Bruce's change of appearance]_ Missed you too, Bruce. Or should I call you Hulk?

 **BRUCE:** Bruce is the one. _[Smiling, motioning to Rocket]_ This is Rocket.

 **ROCKET:** How you doin'?

 **VALKYRIE:** _[Eyeing Rocket]_ He won't see you.

 **BRUCE:** That bad, huh?

 **VALKYRIE:** We only see him once a month, when he comes for... _[looking over to a pile of kegs of stout and other beer on the side]_ ... supplies.

 **ROCKET:** It's that bad.

 **BRUCE:** Yeah.

_[Cut to Rocket opening a door, and him and Bruce walking through it.]_

**BRUCE:** _[Grimacing at the smell]_ What the...

 **ROCKET:** Woo! Something died in here.

 **BRUCE:** Hello? Thor?

 **THOR:** _[From another room.]_ Are you here about the cable?

_[Thor walks into view, shirtless, he has definitely put on more than a couple of pounds since they saw him last. His beard has grown, and he appears to not have bather in a while.]_

**THOR:** The Cinemax ran out about two weeks ago, and the sports were all kind of fuzzy. _[He notices Bruce and Rocket standing there]_ Boys! Oh my God! How’ve you been? _[To Rocket, trying to hug him]_ Come here, you little rascal!

 **ROCKET:** No, I'm good. I'm good. That's not necessary.

 **THOR:** Hulk, you know my friends, Miek, Korg, right?

_[We see Miek and Korg sitting on a couch, PlayStation controller in hand, playing Fortnite and eating chips._

**BRUCE:** Hey, boys!

 **KORG:** Hey guys. Long time no see. Beer's on the bucket. Feel free to log on to the Wi-Fi. No password, obviously.

 **KORG:** Thor, he's back. The kid on the TV that called me a dickhead again.

 **THOR:** Noobmaster?

 **KORG:** Yeah, Noobmaster69.

_[Thor walks over to Korg, takes his headphones, and speaks into the mic.]_

**THOR:** Noobmaster? Yeah, it's Thor again. You know, the God of Thunder? Listen, buddy. If you don't log off this game immediately, I'm gonna fly over to your house, come down to that basement you're hiding in, rip off your arms then shove them up your butt! Oh, that's right. Yes, now go cry to your father, you little weasel!

_[At the other end of the play station game, Loki, messing with his brother’s friends while he eats a Dorito, laughs sarcastically, having succeeded at pissing his big bro off, yet a little terrified at the threat. He loves having re-incarnated as a teenager.]_

**KORG:** Thank you, Thor.

 **THOR:** Let me know if he bothers you again, okay?

 **KORG:** Thank you very much. I will.

 **THOR:** So you guys want a drink? What are you drinking? We have beer, tequila, all sorts of things.

_[Thor uses Stormbreaker to open a bottle of beer and starts drinking. Over-drinking and over-eating as coping mechanisms, Bruce thinks. Been there, done that. He walks over to him and places a hand on his shoulder]_

**BRUCE:** Buddy, you all right? _[He doesn’t quite know how, but he wants to help out his friend get over his grief]_

 **THOR:** Yes, I'm fine! Why, don't I look all right?

 **ROCKET:**   _[Concerned]_ Not really.

 **THOR:** _[Laughs]_ So, what's up?

 **BRUCE:** We need your help. There might be a chance we could fix everything.

 **THOR:** What, like the cable? _[burps]_ Cause that's been driving me bananas for weeks.

 **BRUCE:** Like Thanos.

_[Thor's smile slowly disappears. He puts a shaky hand on Bruce's shoulder and points at him.]_

**THOR:**  Don't say that name.

_[Korg stands up and takes off his headphones, worried that the word may trigger Thor and send him into yet another spiral of guilt and depression]_

**KORG:** Um, yeah. We don't actually say that name in here.

 **BRUCE:** _[quietly]_ Please take your hand off me, contact like that makes me nervous.  _[He brushes away Thor's hand]_ Now, I know that... guy might scare you.

 **THOR:** Why would he? Why would, why would I be scared of that guy? I'm the one who killed that guy, remember? Anyone else here killed that guy? Nope. Didn't think so. Korg, why don't you, tell everybody who chopped Thanos' big head off.

_[Thor walks off to get another beer]_

**KORG:** Umm... Stormbreaker?

 **THOR:** Now, who's swingin' Stormbreaker?

 **BRUCE:** _[Bruce can see the trauma in his Thor’s blue eyes, and he knows he will do everything in his power and more to help him get over it]_ I get it. You're in a rough spot, okay? I've been there myself. You wanna know who helped me out of it?

 **THOR:**  I don't know. Is it... Natasha?

 **BRUCE:** It was you. You helped me.

 **THOR:** _[Something inside him lights up, then. The warmth of Bruce’s words, his care for him, strike him. He’s almost surprised that he’s capable of feeling anything other than sorrow. Still, that tiny glint of emotion is too much for him, so he walks over and looks out the window and points, still holding his beer]_  Why don't you ask the, Asgardians down there, how much my help was worth.  _[he drops onto the sofa]_ The ones that are left, anyway.

 **BRUCE:** I think we can bring them back.

 **THOR:**  Stop. Just, stop...  _[opens a packet on m &ms]_ I know you think I'm down here wallowing in my own self-pity, waiting to be rescued and-- and saved. But I'm fine, okay? We're fine, aren't we?

_[He looks at Korg and Miek eating pizza and playing, which is kind of the only thing they do. Korg, of course, moved in so that at least Thor would have some company, since he wouldn’t let anybody who wanted to talk about feelings anywhere near him]_

**KORG:** Well--

_[Thor frowns, looks back at Bruce]_

**THOR:** So. Whatever it is that you're offering, we're not into it, don't care, couldn't care less. Goodbye.

 **BRUCE:** I’m not here to save you. We need you, pal.

_[Thor shakes his head]_

**BRUCE:** I need you _. [Thor looks up]_

 

**[TOKYO]**

_[At a nightclub in the city of Tokyo, as the entertainment’s still intact, loads of dead bodies of yakuza members are seen as a hooded figure throws a shuriken at another yakuza member firing at him. They are shouting something in Japanese, as two more men come out of nowhere and draw out their UZIs.]_

**THUG #1:** それは！あきひこさん ことです！ _(Soreha! Akihiko-san osewadesu!) (It's him! He's after Akihiko!)_

_[Both thugs fire their SMGs as both got slain by a shuriken. A yakuza member wielding a katana charges at him in the stairs, but is immediately overthrown and slain by the Ronin. Ronin then fights another sword-wielding thug, which is thrown outside the glass, killing him. The camera passes through two more buildings as the fighting ensues with different screams, shouts, more havoc inside, and gunfire. A man in a dark raincoat jumps through the glass window, with the Ronin doing the same, as both of them lands in a dark alleyway. The man in the raincoat turns to the Ronin, who just landed after him. It was Akihiko, the leader of a yakuza gang, whose head being hunted by the Ronin himself.]_

**AKIHIKO:** なぜあなたはこれをやっている？ 私たちはあなたに何もしませんでした！ _(Naze anata wa kore o yatte iru? Watashitachi wa anata ni nani mo shimasendeshita!) (Why are you doing this? We never did anything to you!)_

 **RONIN:** _[As he draws out his katana and reversibly wields it.]_ あなたは生き残った…惑星の半分はそうではなかった。 彼らはサノスを手に入れた。 分かってるね... _(Anata wa ikinokotta… wakusei no hanbun wa sōde wa nakatta. Karera wa sanosu o teniireta. Wakatteru ne...) (You survived... Half of the planet didn't. They got Thanos, you get me.)_

_[Both sides engaged in combat as Ronin pierces his stomach, but doing only minor damage to him.]_

**RONIN:** You're done hurting people.

 **AKIHIKO:** _[He gestures to all the scattered bodies of his henchmen]_ **WE** hurt people? You're crazy!

_[Akihiko charges, which Ronin immediately blocks. Both clang swords for two seconds, seeming that the yakuza leader has the upper hand, but Ronin punches him in the face, and sword-points him to his throat, in which Akihiko is temporarily petrified.]_

_[He lowers down his sword as if he is about to surrender, but charges again at Ronin. Both swords clashed as Ronin slices his stomach, losing stamina, but gaining more strength from his rage.]_

**AKIHIKO:** _[in a Gatotsu-like sword stance]_ 死ね! _(Shine!) (DIE!)_

_[They both draw their katanas and the sword-fight continues. Ronin is clearly a better fighter, but Akihiko is also quite experienced. They clang swords, and for a second, it looks like Akihiko has the upper hand swinging at Ronin's neck. Ronin, however, ducks and slides under the katana, and slices Akihiko in the stomach as he slides past. Akihiko, now fatally injured, drops his katana.]_

**AKIHIKO:** たすけて くれ!  _(Tasukete kure! (_ Wait! Help me! I'll give you anything! What do you want?)

 **RONIN:** What I want... You can't give me.

_[He thrusts the blade downwards into Akihiko's stomach. The body of the Japanese falls to the ground. Ronin grabs the sword, and wipes it on his gauntlet, ridding it of the blood of Akihiko. He notices someone behind him. He grabs his mask and slides it off his head, revealing himself as Clint Barton, who has gone on a rampage since the decimation. He turns around and looks at Nat, who is standing behind him, holding an umbrella, and in casual clothes. Seeing her, although he doesn’t let it show, does something to him. He’s been so alone.]_

**CLINT:** You shouldn't be here.

 **NATASHA:** Neither should you.

 **CLINT:** I've got a job to do.

 **NATASHA:** Is that what you're calling this? Killing all these people isn't gonna bring your family back.

_[Clint starts to look emotional, on the verge of crying.]_

**NATASHA:** We found something. A chance, maybe--

 **CLINT:** _[Now openly crying]_ Don't.

 **NATASHA:** Don't what?

 **CLINT:**...don't give me hope.

 **NATASHA:** _[Her eyes fill with tears as well. She’s been lonely, too. She needs her best friend]_ I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you sooner.

_[Back at the Avenger's Compound, Thor has decided to come with his friends in an attempt to do what’s right, but that didn’t help him from wearing his greasy hoodie and staying perpetually drunk. Recovery is not easy, and it doesn’t happen overnight, Bruce thinks, and sighs. They are walking through the compound's Testing Chamber. Tony is also there, walking in from behind Thor.]_

**TONY:** _[To Thor]_ Drifting left. On the side there, Lebowski. _[To Rocket, who's working on something underneath a glass platform]_ How's it going, Ratchet?

 **ROCKET:** It's Rocket. Take it easy. You're only a genius on Earth, pal.

 **TONY:** _[Unfazed]_ Yup.

_[At a side room, Scott, Bruce, Steve and Rhodey are talking. Scott is in a white and red suit, similar to the Ant-Man suit.]_

**RHODEY:** Time travel suit? Not bad.

 **SCOTT:** _[Response to Hulk touching the suit and something red in a glass tube]_ Hey, hey, hey. Easy, easy!

 **BRUCE:** I'm being very careful.

 **SCOTT:** No, you're being very Hulky.

 **BRUCE:** I'm being careful.

 **SCOTT:** _[Holding up the red glass bottle]_ You’re right, sorry, that was rudde. I got nervous. These are Pym Particles, alright? And since Hank Pym got snapped out of existence, this is it. This is what we have. We're not making any more. We've got enough for one round trip each. That's it. No do-overs. Plus, two test runs. _[He accidentally presses a button, and shrinks, and then grows back to his normal size.]_ One test run.

_[Back at the testing chamber, Steve, Nat, Tony, Scott, Bruce, Rhodey and Nebula are now standing at a control panel, controlling the glass platform.]_

**SCOTT:** All right. I'm not ready for this.

 **CLINT:** I'm game. I'll do it.

_[Clint puts on the Coca-cola looking suit, also known as the Quantum suit.]_

**BRUCE:** Clint, now you're gonna feel a little discombobulated from the chronoshift. Don't worry about it.

_[Clint takes position on the platform]_

**RHODEY:**  Wai-Wait a second, let me ask you something. If we can do this, you know, go back in time, why don't we just find baby Thanos, you know, and... [he makes a hand gesture suggesting that they strangle baby Thanos with a rope]

 **BRUCE:** [disgusted] First of all, that's horrible.

 **RHODEY:** It's Thanos. _[Nat and Tony laugh. Rhodey appreciates it, but he wasn’t joking.]_

 **BRUCE:** And secondly, time doesn't work that way. Changing the past doesn't change the future.

 **SCOTT:** Look, we go back, we get the stones before Thanos gets them... Then Thanos doesn't have the stones. Problem solved.

 **CLINT** : Bingo.

 **NEBULA:** That's not how it works.

 **CLINT:** Well, that's what I heard.

 **BRUCE:** What? By who? Who told you that?

 **RHODEY:** [counting with his fingers] Star Trek, Terminator, TimeCop, Time After Time -

 **SCOTT:** Quantum Leap -

 **RHODEY:** A Wrinkle in Time, Somewhere in Time -

 **SCOTT:** Hot Tub Time Machine –

 **CLINT:** Hot Tub Time Machine, I loved that movie.

 **RHODEY:** Hot Tub Time Machine. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Basically, any movie that deals with time travel.

 **SCOTT:** Die Hard? No, that’s not one...

 **RHODEY:** This is known.

 **BRUCE:** I don't know why everyone believes that, but that isn't true. Think about it: If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future. And your former present becomes the past. Which can't now be changed by your new future!

 **NEBULA:** Exactly.

 **SCOTT:** So... Back To The Future's a bunch of bullshit?

 **BRUCE:** _[_ _Turning to Clint]_ Alright, Clint. We're going in 3... 2... 1!

_[A helmet similar to Ant-Man's but white pops on Clint's head, and he goes quantum. Clint flies through the quantum realm and into an opening. He grows back to normal size, but he's at a different place, and seemingly, time.]_

_[Clint is at his family home, which unlike at the start of the movie, looks a lot more alive. The helmet pops off of Clint's head, and he looks around bewildered. He sees a baseball glove on the ground, belonging to one of his sons, and picks it up. We hear a noise from inside the house, someone who Clint hasn't seen for five years.]_

**LILA:** Cooper? Where are my headphones?

 **CLINT:** _[murmuring]_ Lila? _[The device on his hand starts beeping, signalling the end of this visit]_ Lila! _[He dives for the door, but only manages to open it before he shrinks back to go back to the future.]_

_[Footsteps come towards the place where Clint has just disappeared. Lila come down the stairs in Avril Lavigne-like clothing, looking around, puzzled]_

**LILA:** Dad? _[She looks around] Dad?_

_[Lila goes back upstairs, deciding that it was nothing]_

_[Once he goes back the Avengers Compound, Clint rematerializes on the glass platform, breathing heavily. The shock of having almost seen his family again after so long is terrible, but greater is the hope that he may get them back.]_

**NATASHA:**  Hey, hey. Look at me. You okay?

 **CLINT** : _[Holding up the baseball glove]_ Yeah, it worked. It worked.

_[The avengers are now in a room with some hologram displays, sitting around a table. Tony and Steve are pacing at the front, clearly leading the planning of the mission, as they used to. It feels a little like home, though it’s bittersweet and wrong to say, given the circumstances]_

**STEVE** : Okay, so the "how" works. Now we gotta figure out the when and the where. Almost all of us has had an encounter with at least one of the six infinity stones.

 **TONY:** Well, I'd substitute the word ‘encounter’ for ‘damn well near been killed’ by one of the six infinity stones.

[Steve flinches at Tony’s comment, even if it’s just a joke. He knows he’s not responsible for Tony’s trauma, but he’ll never stop hating the fact that he had to go through it at all. He doesn’t mention any of this, of course. He just keeps explaining the plan.]

 **STEVE** : Regardless, we only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history.

 **TONY** : Our history. So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in.

 **TONY** : Which means we have to pick our targets.

 **TONY** : Correct.

 **STEVE** : Let's start with the Aether. Thor, what do you know?

_[We see Thor sitting on a chair with his sunglasses on. It is impossible to tell whether he is awake or asleep.]_

**NATASHA** : Is he asleep?

[Thor startles and stands up, trying to tune back into reality]

 **THOR** : Where to start? Umm... The Aether, first, is not a stone, someone called it a stone before. It's more of a... an angry sludge thing, so... someones gonna need to amend that. Here's an interesting story though, many years ago... My grandfather had to hide the stones from the Dark Elves... _[He wiggles his fingers to imitate a spooky ghost]_ Wooooh, scary beings. So Jane,  _[An image of Jane Foster pops up on the screen]_ Oh, there she is. That's Jane... She's... We used to be together… She... she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time... and then the Aether stuck itself inside her... And, she became very, very sick. So I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from. And we had to try and fix her. We were dating at the time, you see. I got to introduce her to my Mother... who's dead, _[Thor starts to look broken, and seems on the verge of tears. At that moment, he’s very confused and overwhelmed]_ and oh you know, Jane an I aren't even dating anymore, these things happen though you know, nothing last forever, _[Tony starts to push him back to his chair, worried]_ I'm not done yet, the only thing permanent in life is impermanence!

 **TONY** : Alright, we can continue this later. Want some breakfast?

 **THOR:** I'd like a Bloody Mary, thank you.

 **STEVE:** How bout a cup of coffee, huh?

_[The Avengers are sitting around a table, eating a meal, and Rocket is pacing on the table in front of everyone.]_

**ROCKET:** Quill said he stole the power stone from Morag.

 **SCOTT** : Is that a person?

 **ROCKET** : Morag's a planet. Quill was a person.

 **SCOTT:** A planet? Like in outer space?

 **ROCKET** : Oh, look. It's like a little puppy, all happy and everything. _[Imitating talking to a puppy]_  Do you wanna go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy? I'll take you to space.

 **STEVE:** Hey, Scott’s the one who had this idea to begin with, alright? Don’t treat him like an idiot.

 **SCOTT:** Yeah, what Captain America said! I know quantum physics!

_[Nat is writing notes for their plan while Nebula speaks.]_

**NEBULA** : Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir.

 **NATASHA** : _[In a business-like tone]_ What is Vormir?

 **NEBULA:**  A dominion of death, at the very center of Celestial existence. It's where Thanos murdered my sister. He came back with the soul stone, but without Gamora.

_[Nat looks up, and an awkward silence falls upon the room. She writes what Nebula has just said, and Scott makes to break the awkward moment.]_

**SCOTT** : Not it.

 _[That night, Tony and Nat are lying on a table surrounded by papers, and Bruce is lying down on the floor.]_  

 **NATASHA** : That Time-Stone-guy...

 **BRUCE** : Doctor Strange.

 **NATASHA** : Yeah, what kind of doctor was he?

 **TONY** : Neurostuff meets rabbit from a hat. Nice place in the village, though.

 **BRUCE** : Yeah. Sullivan Street. Hmm... Bleecker.

 **NATASHA** : Wait, he lived in New York?

 **TONY** : No. He lived in Toronto. 

 **NATASHA** : _[Nat shoulders Tony for his unnecessary sarcasm. He frowns, but he deserves it. Particularly when he’s sassing her right now, when she’s seen something that they have all missed]_ Guys, if you pick the right year, there are three stones in New York.

 **BRUCE** : _[Sitting up in surprise]_ Shut the front door!

[Once the plan is ready, they all sit together in front of the holograms, displaying the different locations: the Soul and Power stone in 2014, the Reality stone in Asgard, 2013. And the Space, Mind, and Time stones in New York City, 2012]

 **STEVE** : All right. We have a plan. Six stones, three teams. One shot.

_[He and the other Avengers walk up and look at the screens determinedly.]_

_[When the moment comes, as they’re all walking in a file to the Quantum Time machine, wearing the Quantum Suits, albeit with some minor differences for different people, they feel like a team again.]_

**Steve** :  Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends. _[He says, and he thinks of Fury]_ We lost family _[He says, and he thinks of Sam]_  We lost a part of ourselves _[He says, and he thinks of Bucky]._  Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. But it doesn't mean we should know what to expect.  Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win. _[Tony gives Steve a look. They’re both scared, yet they are in this together]_  Whatever it takes. Good luck.

 **ROCKET** :  _[Whispers]_ He's pretty good at that.

 **SCOTT:**  Right?

 **TONY** :  _[in response to Rocket]_ Steve Pep talk Rogers, they call him. _[To Steve]_ All right. You heard the man. Stroke those keys, jolly green.

 **BRUCE** : Tractors engaged.

 **ROCKET** :  _[Addressing the shrunk Benatar in Clint's hand]_ Break my ship, I’ll break your neck. Understood?

 **CLINT** : Rogers that _[He winks at Steve, and they all share one last laugh together]_

 **NATASHA:** _[Smiling excitedly]_ See you in a minute. _  
_


	3. Chapter 3

**NEW YORK, 2012.**

_[The First Group, which has Tony, Steve, Bruce, & Scott, travels to the battle of New York]_

**STEVE:**  All right, we all have our assignments. Two stones uptown, one stone, down. Stay low. Keep an eye on the clock.

_[2012 Hulk passes by them, smashing everything in his way. Bruce puts his hand on his face, embarrassed, ashamed. As much as he has grown, he still can’t shake the feeling of self-hatred that washes over him when he thinks about the Hulk.]_

**STEVE:**  Sorry to ask, buddy, but you may have to smash some things along the way to go by unnoticed?

 **BRUCE:** Sure, I think it’s futile, but whatever

_[Present Bruce pretends to smash things in a sarcastic way. He tears his shirt off, and walks over to a car. He lightly punches the car, making a small dent, all the while making growling noises. He picks up a motorbike and throws it at a wall, wincing as it hits the wall. He goes up to the Roof of the Sanctum Sanctorum where The 2012 Ancient One protects it. Bruce tries to enter through the roof before noticing her]_

**THE ANCIENT ONE (2012):** I'd be careful going that way. We just had the floors waxed.

 **BRUCE:** Ma'am, I'm looking for Doctor Strange.

 **THE ANCIENT ONE (2012):** You're about... five years too early. Stephen Strange is currently performing surgery about twenty blocks that way. What do you want from him?

 **BRUCE:** That, actually. _[He points towards the eye of Agamotto where the time stone is kept]_

 **THE ANCIENT ONE (2012):** Ah. I'm afraid not.

 **BRUCE:** Sorry, but I wasn't asking.

 **THE ANCIENT ONE (2012):** You don't wanna do this.

 **BRUCE:**  Ah, you're right, I don't. _[He makes a grab at the Eye of Agamotto]_ But I need that stone, and I don't have time to beat it-

_[The Ancient One pushes Bruce's astral form out of his body. Bruce, who is now in astral form, looks at The Ancient One, horrified. There’s something crazy about the certainty that he’s fully human on the inside, where his soul lies. No amount of gamma radiation can take that away.]_

**THE ANCIENT ONE (2012):** Let's start over, shall we?

 

**ASGARD, 2013**

_[Rocket and Thor are creeping by past the prison in Asgard, where Loki from The Dark World lays in his cell. Thor, trying to act natural as he walks by, feels very emotional when he sees Loki and, not letting too much of himself show, screams_ “Love you, brother!” _and runs. They stop at a pillar a few metres away room of where Jane Foster is]_

 **THOR:** That's Jane.

 **ROCKET:** All right. Here's what we’ll do: You're gonna charm her and I'm gonna poke her with this thing, _[He holds up a device.]_ and extract the Reality Stone and get gone, lickety-split.

 **THOR:** I'll be right back, okay? There's a wine cellar, that's just down there. My father used to fish huge barrel of ale. I'll see if the cellar has a couple of--

 **ROCKET:** Hey! Hey! Aren't you drunk enough already?

_[Thor lowers his head, ashamed, hurt. Everything is just so hard to him these days.]_

_[A door opens, Thor and Rocket both try to hide. We then see ladies along with Frigga walking. Thor sees his mother.]_

**ROCKET:**  Who's the fancy broad?

 **THOR:**  It's my Mother. She dies today.

 **ROCKET:**  Oh. That's today?

 **THOR:**   I can't do this. I can't do this. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't have come. This was a bad idea.

 **ROCKET:** Come here.

 **THOR:** No, no, no. I think I'm having...I'm having a panic attack. I shouldn't be here...this is...this is a bad-

 **ROCKET:**  You think you're the only one who lost people? What do you think we're doing here? I lost the only family I ever had. Quill, Groot, Drax, Mantis, all gone. Now, I get you miss your Mom. But she's gone. Really gone. And there are plenty of people who are only kinda gone. But you can help them. So is it too much to ask that you brush the crumbs outta your beard, make schmoopy talk to Pretty Pants, and when she's not looking, suck out the Infinity Stone and help me get my family back?

 **THOR:** I- i- _[Thor tries, but he truly can’t breathe. Rocket realizes he’s really having a panic attack.]_

 **ROCKET:** Come here, alright

 **THOR:** _[Hyperventilating]_ Are you gonna hit me?

ROCKET: No! Well, yes, that was my initial idea, but now I won’t. Come here. _[Thor gets nearer]_ Let’s breathe together, c’mon. In and out. Are you crying?

 **THOR:** No...Yes!

 **ROCKET:** Get it together! You can do this. In, and out. In and out. You can do this. All right?

 **THOR:** _[Thor closes his eyes, opens them again, breaths in, breaths out, calms himself]_ Yes, I can.

 **ROCKET:** Good.

 **THOR:** I can do this. I can do it. I can't do this. _[Thor takes a step forward, and then runs away. It’s just too much for him. He’s not ready to face life again yet]_

 **ROCKET:**   Alright, Heartbreaker. She's alone. This is our shot. _[He turns back to where Thor was moments ago]_  Thor? Thor!

**Morag, 2014**

**RHODEY:** _[Rhodey is getting off the Benatar as it lands.]_ Alright. Bring it down low. Right on that line. That's it. Down, down.

 **CLINT:** Hey, can we hurry it up?

 **NATASHA:** Guys, chop-chop. Come on. We're on a clock.

 _[Nebula walks out of the ship, having directed it to its next destination._ ]

 **CLINT:** All that, is really helpful.

 **RHODEY:** _[Hugging Natasha]_ Take care, okay?

 **NATASHA:** Yeah, you too.

 **RHODEY:** Take that stone and come back. No messing around.

 **CLINT:** _[To Rhodey]_ We’ll try. Hey. You got this.

 **RHODEY:** Yes, sir. Indeed I do. Let’s get it done.

 **NATASHA:** _[Walking with Clint back into the ship]_ See you.

 **RHODEY:** You guys watch each other's six.

_[Clint and Nat look back and just smile. They always do]_

**CLINT:** Yeah.

_[They walk back into the ship, and the hatch closes. The ship takes off and speeds out of the atmosphere of Morag.]_

**NEBULA:** The coordinates for Vormir are laid in. All they have to do is not fall out.

_[In the Benatar, Clint and Nat are sitting at the front of the ship. The ship takes a jump through space and speeds up tremendously. Nat and Clint look at each other, excited.]_

**CLINT:** We're a long way from Budapest.

_[Natasha just laughs.]_

_[Back on Morag, Rhodey and Nebula are standing where they left them.]_

**RHODEY:** Okay, so, uhh... We just wait around for this Quill guy to show up and then he leads us to the Power Stone, is that it?

 **NEBULA:** _[Looking around]_ Let's take cover. We're not the only ones in 2014 looking for the stones.

 **RHODEY:** Wait a minute, what are you talking about right now? Who else is looking for these stones?

 **NEBULA:** My father, my sister, and me.

 **RHODEY:** And you? Where are you right now?

_[2014 Nebula was actually fighting some intergalactic creatures. Or rather, some intergalactic creatures where kicking her ass, until 2014 Gamora shows up]_

**GAMORA (2014):**   _[Helping Nebula up]_ You're welcome.

 **NEBULA (2014):**  I didn't ask for your help.

 **GAMORA (2014):** And yet, you always need it. Get up. Father wants us back on the ship.

 **NEBULA (2014):**  Why?

 **GAMORA (2014):** He's found an Infinity Stone.

( **NEBULA (2014):** Where?

 **GAMORA (2014):** On a planet called Morag.

 **NEBULA (2014):** Father's plan is finally in motion.

 **GAMORA (2014):** One stone isn't six, Nebula.

 **NEBULA (2014):** It’s a start.

 **GAMORA (2014):** If he gets all of them-- _[Before she can finish her sentence, 2014 Thanos arrives]_

 **THANOS (2014):** Ronan's located the Power Stone. I'm dispatching you to his ship.

 **GAMORA (2014):** He won't like that.

 **THANOS (2014):** His alternative is death, then. _[Thanos wipes his double-bladed sword]_ Ronan's obsession clouds his judgement.

 **NEBULA (2014):** We will not fail you, Father.

_[Gamora (2014) rolls her eyes]_

**THANOS (2014):** No, you won't.

 **NEBULA (2014):**  I swear I will make you proud.

_[Nebula (2014) is suddenly in pain. Future Nebula's memories start to unfold before them on a hologram]_

**RHODEY (Memory):**  We just, wait around for this Quill guy to show up, and then he leads us to the Power Stone, is that it?

 **NEBULA (Memory):** Let's take cover. We're not the only ones in 2014 looking for the stones.

_[Nebula (2014) knocks on her head and shuts off the memory]_

**GAMORA (2014):** Who was that?

 **NEBULA (2014):** I don't know...My head is splitting... I don't know...

 **GAMORA (2014):** Her synaptic drive was probably damaged in battle.

_[Thanos walks towards Nebula and brings his blade to her throat]_

**THANOS (2014):** Bring her to my ship. _[Gamora swallows harshly, through a tight throat]_

**NEW YORK**

_[Present Tony Stark is flying around Stark Tower in the Mark 85. He scans the interior of the tower, and sees the original Avengers apprehending Loki, the backside of the iconic moment when Hawkeye pointed the bow at Loki's face while the Avengers surrounded him.]_

**TONY:** _[Tony talks to Steve through their earbud microphones]_ Got to hustle, Cap. Things look like they're just about wrapped up here.

_[Steve is also inside the Tower, walking towards an elevator.]_

**STEVE:** Got it. I'm approaching the elevator now.

 **LOKI (2012):** If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now.

 **TONY (2012)** All right. Good one. No standing around, I'm closing up this door for later. _[To 2012 Cap]_ By the way, feel free to clean up.

 **TONY:** Ugh, Mr. Rogers. I almost forgot that that suit _[While shamelessly staring at Cap walking around in his 2012 suit]_ did nothing for your ass.

 **STEVE:** No one asked you to look, Tony.

 **SCOTT:** I think you look great, Cap. As far as I'm concerned, that's America's ass. [Scott does a patriotic salute]

 **TONY (2012):** Uhh, magic wand?

 **CLINT (2012):** STRIKE team's coming to secure it.

_[A Hydra team, including Rumlow and Sitwell, enter, known at this time as a part of SHIELD.]_

**SITWELL (2012):** We can take that _[Taking Loki's Scepter from 2012 Natasha]_ off your hands.

 **NATASHA (2012):** By all means.

 **CLINT (2012):** Careful with that thing! Unless you want your mind erased. And _not_ in a fun way.

 **SITWELL (2012):** We promise to be careful.

 **SCOTT:** Who are these guys?

 **TONY:** They are SHIELD. Well, actually Hydra. But we didn't know that yet.

 **SCOTT:** Seriously, you didn't? I mean... they look like bad guys.

 **TONY:** You're small, but you're talking loud.

 **STEVE (2012):** On my way down to coordinate search and rescue.

 **LOKI (2012):** _[Transforming into Steve for a second in imitation]_ On my way down to coordinate search and rescue! _[Transforming back]_ I mean, honestly! How do you--

 **THOR (2012):** _[Slapping on a device on Loki's mouth to make him quiet]_ Shut up.

 **TONY:** All right, you're up, little buddy. _[Looking at the briefcase with the Tesseract]_ There's our stone.

 **SCOTT:** _[Lying down on Tony's shoulder]_ Alright. Flick me.

_[Scott pulls out his ass and Tony flicks him onto his 2012 self, right into his beard. 2012 Tony then scratches his beard, dropping present Scott onto 2012 Tony's reactor.]_

_[All of the 2012 Avengers get in an elevator. Hulk makes to follow, but finds the elevator full.]_

**TONY (2012):** Sorry, buddy. The elevator won’t hold.

 **CLINT (2012):** Take the stairs!

 **TONY (2012):** Yeah. _[Hulk draws his fist back right as the elevator door closes]_ Wait!

_[He follows through with the punch, making a dent in the wall right where the door was.]_

**HULK (2012):** _[Pissed]_ Take the stairs. I hate the stairs!

 **TONY:**   All right, Cap. I got our scepter in the elevator, just passing the 80th floor.

 **STEVE:** On it. Head to the lobby.

 **TONY:** Alright. I'll see you there.

_[the elevator is filled with HYDRA agents]_

**SITWELL (2012):** Evidence secure. We're en route to Dr. List. No. No hitches at all, Mr. Secretary.

_[The elavator opens and HYDRA agents see Steve]_

**SITWELL (2012):** Captain. I thought you were coordinating search and rescue?

 **STEVE:** Change of plans.

 **RUMLOW (2012):** Hey, Cap.

 **STEVE:** _[Steve needs to take a deep, deep breath before answering. When he sees Rumlow, he sees the face of a man who stood by while Bucky was being tortured. It takes every ounce of willpower in him to help his fighty self from spitting in Rumlow’s face right then and there.]_ Rumlow. _[Everyone starts getting suspicious and has their guard up]_  I just got a call from the Secretary. I'm gonna be running point on the scepter.

 **SITWELL (2012):** Sir? I don't understand.

 **STEVE:**  We got word there may be an attempt to steal it.

 **RUMLOW (2012):** Sorry, Cap. I can't give you the scepter.

 **SITWELL (2012);** I'm gonna have to call the Director.

 **STEVE;** That's okay. Trust me. _[Steve leans over to Sitwell's ear]_  Hail Hydra.

_[Everyone is surprised, Steve walks out of the elevator with the scepter and a smile]_

**HULK (2012):**   _[Looking down at the many stairs below him]_ So many stairs!

 **TONY:** Thumbelina, do you copy? I've got eyes on the prize.

 **SCOTT:**  It's go-time. - Bombs away.

 **SCOTT:** _[Smelling Tony from inside his chest]_ Is, is that Axe body spray?

 **TONY:**   Yeah, I had a can just for emergencies. Relax.

 **SCOTT:**  Can we focus, please? - I'm going inside you. Now.

 **ALEXANDER PIERCE (2012):**  May I ask you where you're going?

 **TONY (2012):** To lunch and then Asgard. I'm sorry, you are?

 **ALEXANDER PIERCE (2012):** My friends call me Mr. Secretary.

 **HYDRA AGENT:**   I'm gonna have to ask you to turn that prisoner over to me.

 **THOR (2012):** Loki will be answering to Odin himself. -

 **HYDRA AGENT:** Oh, he's gonna answer to us.

 **ALEXANDER PIERCE (2012):** Odin can have what's left. And I'm gonna need that case.

 **TONY (2012):** That's been SHIELD property for over 70 years.

 **ALEXANDER PIERCE (2012):** Hand over the case, Stark.

 **TONY:** _[To present Scott through radio]_ All right, move it, Stuart Little. Things are getting dicey up here. Let's go.

 **SCOTT:** Promise me you won't die?

 **TONY:** You're only giving me a mild cardiac dysrhythmia.

 **SCOTT:** That doesn't sound mild.

 **HYDRA AGENT:**   I need the case.

 **TONY (2012):**   I know you got a lotta pull. I'm just saying...

 **HYDRA AGENT:** Okay. Then give me the case.

 **TONY:** Do it, Lang!

 **TONY:** Get your hands off! - Window's closing. Pull my pin!

 **SCOTT:**   Here goes!

[ _Ant-Man pulls off Stark 2012's reactor, and Tony (2012) drops the case]_

 **ALEXANDER PIERCE (2012):** Stark? Stark!

_[Stark falls down to the ground]_

**ALEXANDER PIERCE (2012):** Look, he's convulsing. Give him air! Medic!

 **TONY (dressed as a SHIELD agent):** MEDIC! You guys, some help!

 **ALEXANDER PIERCE (2012):** Stark, you--- your chest machine?

[ _Ant-Man pushes the case. Meanwhile Loki looks at case with shining eyes. Tony Stark grabs the case.]_

 **TONY (dressed as a SHIELD agent):** Good job. Meet me in the alley. I'm gonna grab a quick slice.

_[Suddenly, Hulk 2012 pushes Tony to the ground and the Tesseract slides to Loki]_

**HULK (2012):** NO MORE STAIRS!!!!

_[Everyone runs from Hulk's rampage, Loki 2012 grabs the Tesseract and teleports away with it]_

**THOR (2012):** You'll be fine, Stark. Stay with us! I'll try something, okay? I have no idea if it's gonna work.

_[Thor uses Mjolnir as a defibrillator on Tony]_

**THOR (2012):** YES!

 **TONY (2012):** That worked a treat. That was so crazy!

 **THOR (2012):** I had no idea if that was gonna work.

 **TONY (2012):** The case.

 **THOR (2012):** The case. It's, uhh... Where's the case? Where's Loki? Loki!

 **SCOTT:** That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?

 **TONY** : Oh, we blew it.

 **THOR (2012):** Loki!

 **STEVE:** Tony, what's going on? Tell me you found that cube. _[He looks up and groans]_ Oh, you gotta be shitting me.

_[In front of him, Steve sees his 2012 self looking back]_

**STEVE (2012):** I have eyes on Loki. 14th floor.

 **STEVE:** _[Puts the case down]_ I am not Loki. And I don't wanna hurt you.

_[2012 Steve engages and the two Captain Americas begin to duel]_

**STEVE (2012):** I can do this all day.

 **STEVE:** _[Standing up, unexplainably annoyed at himself, feeling like we feel when we look at an old picture and realize we thought we looked very cool but were actually really dumb]_ Yeah, I know. I know.

_[Future Steve's locket of Peggy falls out, Steve (2012) notices it]_

**STEVE (2012):** Where did you get this? _[They keep fighting, in perfect synch, but future Steve is, of course, better, having had more years of practice and knowledge. Steve (2012) grabs future Steve in a chokehold, so future Steve can’t help but saying the thing he wanted to hear the most back in 2012, when he had just woken up from the ice, confused and alone. He knows it’s wrong, but he says it anyways.]_

 **STEVE:** Bucky... is... alive!

 **STEVE (2012):** _[Letting go, thrown entirely off. Only just hearing Bucky’s name already shut down his brain immediately.]_ What?

_[Future Steve takes the chance to knock Steve (2012) off. Then, he gets up and stares at him]_

**STEVE:** _[Quite pleased with himself]_ That **_is_** America's ass.

_[Back at Baker Street, Bruce Banner is trying to reason with the Ancient One to let him have the Time Stone]_

**BRUCE BANNER:** Please, please!

 **THE ANCIENT ONE (2012):** I'm sorry, I can't help you, Bruce. If I give up the Time Stone to help your Reality, I'm dooming my own.

 **BRUCE BANNER:** With all due respect, I'm not sure the science really supports that.

_[The Ancient One creates a projection with a long ray that simulates the flow of time.]_

**THE ANCIENT ONE (2012):** The Infinity Stones create what you experience as the flow of time. Remove one stone and that flow splits. _[Shows black stream indicating a point of divergence]_ Now, this may benefit your reality, but my new one…not so much. In this new branched Reality, without our chief weapon against the forces of darkness, our world will be overrun. Millions will suffer. So, tell me, Doctor, can your science prevent all that?

 **BRUCE BANNER:** No, but we can erase it. Because once we are done with the stones, we can return each one to its own timeline at the moment it was taken. So, chronologically, in that reality, it never left.

 **THE ANCIENT ONE (2012):** But you are leaving out the most important part. In order to return the stones, you have to survive.

 **BRUCE BANNER:** We will. I will. I promise.

 **THE ANCIENT ONE (2012):** I can't risk this Reality on a promise. It is the duty of the Sorcerer Supreme to protect the Time Stone.

 **BRUCE BANNER:** Then why the hell did Strange give it away?

 **THE ANCIENT ONE (2012):** _[Surprised]_ What did you say?

 **BRUCE BANNER:** Strange, he gave it away. He gave it to Thanos.

 **THE ANCIENT ONE (2012):** Willingly?

 **BRUCE BANNER:** Yes.

 **THE ANCIENT ONE (2012):** ...Why?

 **BRUCE BANNER:** I have no idea. Maybe he made a mistake.

 **THE ANCIENT ONE (2012):** Or I did. _[She returns to Banner control of his Hulk body and opens the Eye of Agamotto, revealing the Time Stone]_ Strange is meant to be the best of us.

 **BRUCE BANNER:** So he must have done it for a reason.

 **THE ANCIENT ONE (2012):** I fear you might be right. _[She gives him the Time Stone, hesitant]_

 **BRUCE BANNER:** Thank you.

 **THE ANCIENT ONE (2012):** I'm counting on you, Bruce. We all are.

_[On Vormir,2014, Thanos, Gamora and Ebony Maw are examining Nebula]_

**THANOS (2014):** _[To Ebony Maw]_ Run diagnostics. Show me her memory file.

 **EBONY MAW (2014):** Sire, the file appears entangled. It was a memory, but not hers. There's another consciousness sharing her network. Another Nebula.

 **THANOS** **(2014):** Impossible.

 **EBONY MAW (2014):** This duplicate carries a time stamp from nine years in the future.

 **THANOS (2014):** Where is this other Nebula?

 **EBONY MAW (2014):** In our solar system. On Morag.

 **THANOS (2014):** Can you access her?

 **EBONY MAW (2014):** Yes. The two are linked.

 **THANOS (2014):** Search the duplicate's memories for Infinity Stones.

_[Memory of the meeting with all the Avengers starts playing]_

**STEVE (2013):** And these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history.

 **TONY (2013):** Our history. So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in.

 **CLINT BARTON (2013):** Which means we have to pick our targets.

 **TONY STARK (2013):** Correct.

_[End memory]_

**THANOS (2014):** _[To Ebony Maw]_ Freeze image.

 **GAMORA (2014):** Terrans.

 **THANOS (2014):** Avengers. Unruly wretches. What's that reflection? Amplify this, Maw.

 **GAMORA (2014):** _[Looking at a reflection of Nebula (2023)]_ I don't understand. Two Nebulas.

 **THANOS (2014):** No. The same Nebula. From two different times. Set course for Morag. Scan the duplicate's memories. I want to see everything.

**_[Asgard, 2013]_ **

**FRIGGA (2013):** My ladies, I'll see you after. Go on.

_[Thor is looking at his mother, trying not to get caught hiding behind a large post, but when he turns around, he’s shocked to see his mom right there]_

**FRIGGA (2013):** _[To Thor]_ What are you doing?

 **THOR:** Ahh!!!

 **FRIGGA (2013):** You're better off leaving the sneaking to your brother.

 **THOR:** Yeah, I was simply just going for a walk, and uh... _[Trying to hide his belly]_

 **FRIGGA (2013):** What are you wearing?

 **THOR:** I always wear this. This is one of my favorites.

_[Frigga puts her hand on Thor's face and takes a good look at him]_

**FRIGGA (2013):** What's wrong with your eye?

 **THOR:** Oh, my eye. That's... you remember the Battle of Haroquin? When I got hit in the face with a broadsword?

 **FRIGGA (2013):** You're not the Thor I know at all, are you?

 **THOR:** _[Pretending]_ Yes, I am.

 **FRIGGA (2013):** The future hasn't been kind to you, has it?

 **THOR:** _[Struck by his mother’s words, but keeping up the act]_ I didn't say I'm from the future.

 **FRIGGA (2013):** I was raised by witches, boy. I see with more than eyes, and you know that.

_[Thor attempts to hold back his tears and fails miserably]_

**THOR:** I am totally, totally from the future!

 **FRIGGA (2013):** Yes, you are.

 **THOR:** I really need to talk to you.

 **FRIGGA (2013):** We can talk.   _[They both hug each other]_

_[Meanwhile, Rocket successfully sneaks in on Jane Foster, who’s waking up, and extracts the Aether]_

**THOR:** His head was over there... His body over there... What was the point? I was too late. I was just standing there. Some idiot with an axe.

 **FRIGGA (2013):** You're no idiot. You're here, aren't you? Seeking counsel from the wisest person in Asgard.

 **THOR:** _[Half-heartedly smiling at his mother’s well-placed arrogance. She truly was the only one with sense in that family]_ I guess, yeah.

 **FRIGGA (2013):** Idiot? No. A failure? Absolutely.

 **THOR:** _[Hurt]_ That's a little bit harsh.

 **FRIGGA (2013):** You do know what that makes you? Just like everyone else. We all fail at times.

 **THOR:** I'm not supposed to be like everyone else, am I?

 **FRIGGA (2013):** Everyone fails at who they are supposed to be, Thor. The measure of a person, of a hero, is how well they succeed at being who they are.

 **THOR:** _[Friends are cool. His’, in particular. But sometimes, you just need the comfort of your mother. Wise, caring, and just the right amount of tough-loving]_ I really missed you, Mum.

_[At the other side of the palace, Rocket is running away from a bunch of Asgardian soldiers]_

**ROCKET:** Thor! I got it!

 **ASGARDIAN SOLDIER (2013):** Get that rabbit!

 **THOR:** Ma, I have to tell you something.

 **FRIGGA (2013):** No, son. You don't. You're here to repair your future, not mine.

 **THOR:** But this is about your future.

 **FRIGGA (2013):** It's none of my business.

 **ROCKET:** Hey. You must be Mom. I got the thing. Come on, we got to move.

 **THOR:** I wish we had more time.

 **FRIGGA (2013):** No, this was a gift. And you're going to be the man you're meant to be.

 **THOR:** I love you, Mom.

 **FRIGGA (2013):** I love you. Be kind to yourself. And take care of yourself, too.

 **ROCKET:** Come on. We gotta go.

 **FRIGGA (2013):** _[whispers]_ Goodbye.

 **ROCKET:** Three... two...

 **THOR:** No, wait!

_[Thor holds out his hand]_

**ROCKET:** _[To Frigga]_ Wh- what am I looking at?

 **FRIGGA (2013):** Oh, sometimes it takes a second.

_[Thor summons Mjolnir]_

**THOR:** _[He’s so incredibly happy, and a little (very) surprised, when it comes rushing to meet his hand. Even as sad and angry as he is, this must mean there’s some goodness left inside him. Sometimes, you strive a little away from who you are. We all have bad times. But that doesn’t help you from being a good person]_ I'm still worthy! _[He says, and he is.]_

 **ROCKET:** Oh, boy.

 **THOR:** Goodbye, Mom.

 **FRIGGA (2013):** _[whispers]_ Goodbye.

 

**["Come And Get Your Love" starts playing in the background]**

_[On Morag, Peter Quill is dancing to "Come And Get Your Love" like nobody is watching when, in fact, Rhodey and Nebula are watching him from their hiding place in the background, behind a rock. To their perspective, he’s dancing and singing without music]_

**RHODEY:** So he's an idiot?

 **NEBULA:** …Yeah.

_[Rhodey knocks out Quill and Nebula rummages around to take Quill's tool]_

**RHODEY:** What's that?

 **NEBULA:** The tool of a thief.

_[Nebula uses the tool to open the door that leads to The Orb, A.K.A The Power Stone. Nebula tries to walk in but is stopped by Rhodey]_

**RHODEY:** Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! This is the part where spikes come out with skeletons on the end and everything

 **NEBULA:** What are you talking about?

 **RHODEY:** When you break into a place called the temple of the Power Stone, there's gonna be a bunch of boobytraps---

_[Nebula just shakes her head and walks in]_

**RHODEY:** Okay. All right. Go ahead.

_[Nebula forces her hand inside the force field protecting The Orb while it melts away the exterior plating on her arm. She successfully retrieves The Orb and hands it to Rhodey all the while Rhodey watched the whole thing happening]_

**NEBULA:** _[Suddenly self-aware. Almost embarrassed of her metallic parts, of the cyborg she’s been turned into. Of what she allowed her father to do to her.]_ I wasn't always like this.

 **RHODEY:** _[Understanding all too well, he feels the compassion of a fellow soldier. She may not have been military, but she fought her own wars alright.]_ Me either. But we work with what we got, right?

_[They just both look at each other solemnly]_

**RHODEY:** Sync up. _[They both suit up]_ Three, two, one--

_[Rhodey is the only one who disappears while Nebula is left behind, unable to move, riddled with pain inside her head]_

[A memory is played, coming from future Nebula’s head]

 **BRUCE (Memory):** You murdered trillions!

 **THANOS (Memory):** You should be grateful.

 **NATASHA (Memory):** Where are the stones?

 **THANOS (Memory):** Gone. Reduced to atoms.

 **BRUCE (Memory):** You used them two days ago.

 **THANOS (Memory):** I used the stones to destroy the stones. It nearly killed me. But the work is done. It always will be. I am inevitable.

_[Memory pauses]_

**GAMORA (2014):** What did you do to them?

 **THANOS (2014):** Nothing. Yet. They're not trying to stop something I'm going to do in our time. They're trying to undo something I've already done in theirs.

 **GAMORA (2014):** The stones

 **THANOS (2014):** I found them all. I won. Tipped the cosmic scales to balance.

_[Thanos caress Gamora. She flinches, kneels down]_

**MAW (2014):** This is your future.

 **THANOS (2014):** It's my destiny.

_[Maw resumes playing the memory]_

**NEBULA (Memory):** My father is many things. A liar is not one of them.

 **THANOS (Memory):** Thank you, Daughter. Perhaps I treated you too harshly...

_[Thanos gets beheaded in the memory, Gamora is so shocked and stands up. A slight edge of excitedness flees through her eyes]_

**THANOS (2014):** And that, is destiny fulfilled.

 **MAW (2014):** Sire, your Daughter...

_[Maw telekinetically wraps a chain around Nebula]_

**MAW (2014):** ...is a traitor.

 **NEBULA (2014):** That's not me. It's not. I could never... I would never betray you. Never.

_[Thanos releases the chain around Nebula’s neck and holds her head in his palm; an act of pure domain over a traumatized child. Every little thing Thanos does to her is but another reminder of Thanos’ manipulative and abusive behaviour.]_

**THANOS (2014):** I know. And you'll have the chance to prove it.

_[Thanos makes sure Nebula cannot travel back to 2023. Nebula is stuck in 2014]_

**NEBULA:** No... He knows! Barton? Barton, come in. Romanoff? Come in, we have a problem. Come on! Come in, we have a problem. Thanos knows. Thanos… He knows.

**[NEW YORK]**

_[Steve, who has just defeated himself. Jumping down from building with the scepter]_

**TONY:** Cap...

_[He turns around to see Tony and Scott sitting in a broken car]_

**TONY:** Sorry, buddy. We got a problem.

 **SCOTT:** Huh. Yeah, we do.

 **STEVE:** Well, what are we gonna do now?

 **TONY:** You know what, give me a break, Steve. I just got hit in the head with a Hulk.

 **SCOTT:** You said that we had one shot. This, this was our shot. We shot it. It's shot. Six stones or nothing. Six stones or nothing.

 **TONY:** You're repeating yourself, you know that? You're repeating yourself.

 **SCOTT:** You're repeating yourself. You're repeating yourself!

 **TONY:** No!

 **SCOTT:** No. No.

 **TONY:** Come on.

 **SCOTT:** You never wanted a time heist, you went on board with the time heist…

 **TONY:** I dropped the ball.

 **SCOTT:** You ruined the time heist.

 **TONY:** Is that what I did?

 **SCOTT:** Yeah!

 **STEVE** : Are there any other options with the Tesseract?

 **SCOTT:** No, no, no. There's no other options. There's no do-overs. We're not going anywhere else. We have one particle left. Each. That's it, alright? We use that... Bye, bye. You're not going home.

 **STEVE:** Yeah, well if we don't try **,** then no one else is going home, either.

 **TONY:** I got it. There's another way. To retake the Tesseract and acquire new particles. We'll stroll down memory lane. Military installation, Garden State.

 **STEVE:** When were they both there?

 **TONY:** They were there at a... I have a vaguely exact idea.

 **STEVE:** How vague? _[Tony and Steve stare at each other, speaking through their eyes]_

 **SCOTT:** What are you talking about? Where are we going?

 **TONY:** I know for a fact they were there...

 **SCOTT:** Who's they? What are we doing?

 **TONY:** And I know how I know.

 **SCOTT:** Guys, what's up? What is it?

 **TONY:** Well, it looks like we're improvising.

 **SCOTT:** Right. What are we improvising?

 **TONY:** Scott, get this back to the compound.

 **TONY:** _[At Steve]_ Suit up.

 **SCOTT:** What's in New Jersey?

 **TONY:** 0-4, 0-4... - Uhh, 0-7.

 **STEVE:** 0-7. - Excuse me...

 **TONY:** 1-9-7-0.

 **STEVE:** _[Furrowing his brow]_ You sure?

 **SCOTT:** Cap. Captain! Steve, sorry, America? Rogers. Look, if you do this, and this doesn't work, you're not coming back.

 **TONY:** We know, fly boy. _[Looking at Steve]_ We know. _[To Steve, as serious as he ever was]_ You trust me?

 **STEVE:** I do. _[He never meant anything as much as he meant that one sentence]_

 **TONY:** Your call.

 **STEVE:** Here we go.

 

**[NEW JERSEY, 1970]**

**STAN LEE:** _[Driving past Steve and Tony]_ Hey, man. Make love, not war!

 **TONY:** Clearly, you weren't actually born here, right?

 **STEVE:** The idea of me was.

 **TONY:** Right. Well, imagine you're SHIELD, running a quasi-fascistic intelligence organization. Where do you hide it?

 **STEVE:** In plain sight.

_[Tony and Steve get down in an elevator with a lady]_

**TONY:** _[Leaving the elevator]_ Good luck on your mission, Captain.

 **STEVE:** _[Waiting for another floor, frowning at him]_ Good luck on your project, doctor.

 **ELEVATOR LADY:** You're new here?

 **STEVE:** _[Laughing a little to himself, despite it all]_ Not exactly.

_[Tony is in what seems to be a lab area, looking for the tesseract. Eventually, he finds it]_

**TONY:** Gotcha **.** Back in the game.

 **HOWARD STARK:** Arnim, you in there? Arnim? Hey! The door's this way, pal.

 **TONY:** [Tony’s jaw almost drops to the floor when he saw him. He could barely speak.] Oh, yeah.

 **HOWARD STARK:** I'm looking for Dr. Zola. Have you seen him?

 **TONY:** Yeah, no, Dr. Zol... No, I haven't seen a soul.

 **HOWARD STARK:** Pardon me. Do I know you?

 **TONY:** No, sir. I'm, a... visitor from MIT.

 **HOWARD STARK:** Huh. MIT. Got a name?

 **TONY:** Uh...Howard.

 **HOWARD STARK:** Well, that'll be easy to remember.

 **TONY:** Howard....Potts.

 **HOWARD STARK:** Well, I'm Howard Stark.

 **TONY:** Hi.

 **HOWARD STARK:** Shit. Now, don't pull it.

 **TONY:** Yeah...

 **HOWARD STARK:** You look a little green around the gills there, Potts.

 **TONY:** I'm fine. Just, long hours. _[That, and the fact that I’m seeing my father, who was a royal asshole and I never got proper closure with, again, after he’s been dead for years already.]_

 **HOWARD STARK:** Wanna get some air?

 **TONY:** Yeah. That would be swell.

 **HOWARD STARK:** That way.

 **TONY:** Okay.

_[In a lab, a younger Hank Pym works on a personal project]_

**CAPTAIN STEVENS** : Hello. Dr. Pym?

 **PYM:** That would be the number that you called. Yes.

 **CAPTAIN STEVENS:** This is Capt. Stevens from shipping. We have a package for you.

 **PYM:** Bring it up.

 **CAPTAIN STEVENS:** Well, that's the thing, sir. We can't.

 **PYM:** I'm confused. I thought that was your job.

 **CAPTAIN STEVENS:** Well, it's just... Sir, the box is glowing and, to be honest, some of our mail guys aren't feeling that great.

 **PYM:** They didn't open it, did they?

 **CAPTAIN STEVENS:** Yeah, they did. You better get down here.

_[Pym proceeds to run hysterically down the hallway]_

**PYM:** Excuse me. Out of the way!

_[Meanwhile, Howard and Tony share an elevator ride. More than they ever shared back in Tony’s original timeline]_

**TONY:** So, flowers and sauerkraut. You got a big date tonight?

 **HOWARD STARK:** My wife's expecting. And, uh... Too much time in the office.

 **TONY:** [Tony is startled. He realises, at the time, his mother was pregnant of him.] Congratulations.

 **HOWARD STARK:** Thanks. Hold this, will you?

 **TONY:** Yeah, sure. How far along is she?

 **HOWARD STARK:** I don't know... uh...She's at the point where she can't stand the sound of my chewing. I guess I'll be eating dinner in the pantry again.

 **TONY:** _[Something inside him turns soft]_ I have a little girl.

 **HOWARD STARK:** A girl would be nice. Less of a chance she'd turn out exactly like me.

 **TONY:** _[It’s a low blow, but he has a good point. Maybe Tony would be a better person if he had been a woman, he thinks. The hardship of dealing with male stupidity would have helped him from being such a pain in the ass himself.]_ What'd be so awful about that?

 **HOWARD STARK:** Let's just say that the greater good has rarely outweighed my own self-interests. _[At least he knew he was a selfish bastard, Tony thought. He wished he would have run into his mother instead. A lifetime of bad parenting can’t be solved in 15 minutes. Tony couldn’t even solve it in 15 years of therapy.]_

_[Back inside the facility, the elevator lady is talking to security guards about Tony and Captain America, the two men she saw earlier, who were looking fishy]_

**SECURITY OFFICER:** And you've never seen these two men before?

 **ELEVATOR LADY:** No, I've got an eye for this. The two of them looked fishy.

 **SECURITY OFFICER:** Can you describe them?

 **ELEVATOR LADY:** Well, one of them had a hippie beard.

 **SECURITY OFFICER:** Hippie? Like Bee Gees or Mungo Jerry?

 **ELEVATOR LADY:** Definitely Mungo Jerry.

 **SECURITY OFFICER:** Yeah, this is Chesler. I need every available MPs on sub-level 6. We have a potential breach.

_[Tony and Howard are still talking to each other]_

**TONY:** So, where are you at with names?

 **HOWARD STARK:** Well, if it's a boy, my wife likes Almanzo.

 **TONY:** Might wanna let that stew on. You got time.

 **HOWARD STARK:** Let me ask you a question. When your kid was born, were you nervous?

 **TONY:** Wildly. Yeah.

 **HOWARD STARK:** Did you feel qualified? Like you had any idea how to successfully operate that thing?

 **TONY:** I literally pieced it together as I went along. I thought about what my Dad did, and… My old man, he never met a problem he couldn't solve with a belt. But, I didn’t want to be the same kind of father that he was. I thought my dad was tough on me. And now, looking back, I just remember the good stuff, you know. He did drop the odd pearl.

 **HOWARD STARK:** Yeah? Like what?

 **TONY:** "No amount of money ever bought a second of time."

 **HOWARD STARK:** Smart guy.

 **TONY:** I’d like to think he did his best. _[Shrugs, seeing no point in lying to a man who wouldn’t have known the truth even if he had screamed it in his face when he had to]_ But he could have done better.

 **HOWARD STARK:** Let me tell you. That kid's not even here yet **,** and there's nothing I wouldn't do for him.

 **TONY:** _[A stone sinks heavy in Tony’s chest. At least he was loved, he thinks. At least he loved me. Maybe he did do his best.]_ Once that baby gets here, you should make sure he knows that.

 **HOWARD STARK:** _[A little weirded out from having such a meaningful conversation with a total stranger, yet feeling a warm sense of familiarity]_ Good to meet you, Potts.

 **TONY:** Yeah. [He shakes his hand, looks into his eyes one last time, for good measure] See you around.

 **HOWARD STARK:** _[Walking back to his car]_ Jarvis, have we ever met that guy?

 **EDWIN JARVIS:** You know a lot of people, sir.

 **HOWARD STARK:** Seems very familiar. Weird beard, though

**2014**

_[2014 Nebula has captured 2023 Nebula, and 2014 Nebula is fighting her future self]_

**NEBULA (2014):** You're weak.

 **NEBULA:** I'm you.

_[Nebula (2014) throws a punch straight at Present Nebula. Gamora (2014) walks into the room]_

**NEBULA:** You can stop this. You know you want to. Did you see what happens in the future? Thanos finds the Soul Stone. You wanna know how he does that? You wanna know what he does to you?

[Seeing herself like this really hurts her. How obsequent and alienated she was. How scared and broken; with a brain so washed she didn’t even know who she was or what she wanted for herself. Could even see the pain that was being imparted upon her. Could see anything past survival; her instinct to please her father to avoid being further chastised was stronger than any moral compass. To see this, to remember the fear and the pain, filled with unfathomable anger]

 **NEBULA (2014):** That's enough. You disgust me. But that doesn't mean you're useless.

_[Nebula (2014) steals the golden plate on the side of present nebula´s face and wears it herself]_

**NEBULA (2014):** How do I look?

 

**[VORMIR].**

**CLINT:** _[Looking at the view]_ Wow... Under different circumstances, this would be totally awesome.

_[Natasha and Clint start walking towards the mountain]_

**NATASHA:** I bet the raccoon didn't have to climb a mountain.

 **CLINT:** Technically, he's not a raccoon, you know.

 **NATASHA:** Whatever. He eats garbage.

 **RED SKULL (2014):** Welcome.

_[Natasha and Clint draw their weapons]_

**RED SKULL (2014):** Natasha, daughter of Ivan. Clint, son of Edith.

 **NATASHA:** Who are you?

 **RED SKULL (2014):** Consider me a guide. To you, and to all who seek the Soul Stone.

 **NATASHA:** Oh good. You tell us where it is, then we'll be on our way.

 **RED SKULL (2014):** If only it were that easy. _[Stonekeeper leads Clint and Natasha to the cliff]_

 **RED SKULL (2014):** What you seek lies in front of you, as does what you fear.

 **NATASHA:** The stone is down there.

 **RED SKULL (2014):** For one of you. For the other… In order to take the stone, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul, for a soul.

_[Natasha sits on a log to consider the situation while Clint watches the Stonekeeper]_

**CLINT:** Maybe he's making this shit up.

 **NATASHA:** No. I don't think so.

 **CLINT:** Why, 'cause he knows your Daddy's name?

 **NATASHA:** I didn't. _[It’s true. Natasha thought, then: not much use, to know where I come from now that I’m about to die]_ Thanos left here with the stone but without his daughter. It's not a coincidence.

 **CLINT:** Yeah.

 **NATASHA:** _[She looks up at him, hard]_ Whatever it takes.

 **CLINT:** _[The same cold, hardened eyes meet her. Old soldiers have the same look]_ Whatever it takes.

_[Natasha stands up]_

**NATASHA:** If we don't get that stone, billions of people stay dead.

 **CLINT:** Then I guess we both know who it's gotta be.

 **NATASHA:** I guess we do.

_[Clint holds Natasha's hand and she reciprocates. They look at each other for a long time, their minds wandering off to the crazy life they’ve lived, mostly together.]_

**CLINT:** I'm starting to think we’re talking about different people here, Natasha.

 **NATASHA:** For the last five years I've been trying to do one thing: Get to right here. That's all it's been about. Bringing everybody back.

 **CLINT:** Oh, don't you get all decent on me now.

 **NATASHA:** _[Her eyes are filled with water. Whatever happens, she’ll be losing something today]_ What, you think I wanna do it? I'm trying to save your life, you idiot.

 **CLINT:** Yeah well, I don't want you to. Natasha, you know what I've done. You know what I've become.

 **NATASHA:** [She spits words he once said to her back to him] I don't judge people on their worst mistakes.

 **CLINT:** Maybe you should.

 **NATASHA:** You didn't.

 **CLINT:** _[He’s crying now, too]_ You're a pain in my ass, you know that?

_[Both Clint and Natasha lean their heads against each other. As fucked up as they both may be, their bond runs deeper than blood. It wasn’t fate and it wasn’t destiny, but they had to be in each other’s lives. It couldn’t have been any other way. And in that moment, they were both so infinitely grateful for it.]_

**CLINT:** Okay. You win.

_[Clint smiles and knocks Natasha to the ground]_

**CLINT:** Tell my family I love them.

_[Natasha returns the favor by tackling Clint to the ground]_

**NATASHA:** You tell them yourself.

_[Natasha electrocutes Clint and she runs towards the cliff. Clint gets up and shoots an explosive arrow knocking her down. Clint then runs towards the cliff and jumps. Natasha jumps after him and hooks him up to a grappling hook]_

**CLINT:** Damn you!

 **NATASHA** : Let me go.

 **CLINT** : No. Please, no

 **NATASHA** : It's okay. _[She’s smiling]_

 **CLINT** : Please…

_[Natasha kicks the wall, falls off the rope, and plummets to the ground. As the life is going out of her, she finally feels like she’s wiped the red off her ledger.]_

_[A boom in the sky sends Clint in a pool of water with the Soul Stone in his hand. He hits the ground out of anger. His Quantum Suit activates and he shrinks back to the present day, soon joined by the others, returning from their own journals. Everyone is there. Everyone made it back. Except for one person.]_


End file.
